Roses Have Thorns
by jrrm64
Summary: AU. After Somalia Ziva is broken and has focused all that has gone wrong on Tony. In order to help Ziva through this difficult time Gibbs backs a promotion and transfer for Tony. That's the starting point.
1. Chapter 1

**Roses Have Thorns**

Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud:

Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun,

And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud**.**

Shakespeare

**Prologue**

"_I can't live without you," he said. _

_She didn't want to hear these words coming from him. He was the reason she was there. First, he killed Michael, her lover, and then he exposed her father to her as the puppet master that he is. Finally, Gibbs chose him over her. Each step there was a chance for everything to work out, but Tony was there and Tony's actions forced her on the road to Somalia, on the road to being tortured and abused._

"Talk to me, Ziver," said Gibbs.

Standing there in his basement, she was dressed in NCIS sweatpants and tee shirt. She looked at the man that she thought of as more of a father than her own flesh and blood. He was housing her and taking caring of her, and, more importantly, keeping him away from her own father.

"I cannot work with him," she stated.

Gibbs knew whom she meant. Ever since they came back, her attitude towards DiNozzo had changed.

"He was behind the rescue mission, Ziver," Gibbs said.

He grey blue eyes stared at her. She was broken and he had to fix her. Abby and Ziva had become his daughters, his replacement for Kelly.

"I do not care, Gibbs. I was in Somalia because of him, because of his thoughtless actions," she hissed.

Her dark eyes filled with tears. Gibbs put down his sander, walked over to her, and took her in his arms. He kissed her head.

"I want you to talk to Ducky tomorrow," he said. "Will you do that for me?"

"Yes, Gibbs," she said with a sob.

"I'll take care of DiNozzo," he said.

"I don't' want to hate him, Gibbs, but I do. I hate him," Ziva sobbed.

"I understand, Ziver. I understand," he said.

NCIS

Ducky sat on Gibbs sofa beside Ziva. He listened as she confided in him. His heart broke as she told him how she blamed Tony for her pain. Ducky nodded understandingly and patted her hand. When she was done, Ducky smiled. He told her that she should take her pain medication and go upstairs for a nap. She kissed his cheek and went up the stairs.

Once Ziva was gone, Gibbs came into the living room and sat down in the armchair. He stared at the geriatric medical examiner, who seemed lost in thought.

"How is she, Duck?" he asked.

"In pain," he said then he reached for his cup of tea and took a sip.

"What is this thing she has about Tony?" Gibbs asked. Gibbs was honestly confused by it. Before he killed Rivkin, it always seemed like Ziva and Tony were one-step away from shattering rule 12. When they were together, they smoldered.

Ducky sighed. His affection for Anthony DiNozzo was that of a grandfather for his favorite grandson. Both men liked to talk and both men liked scotch. But, this was about Ziva.

"She has transferred a great deal of her anger and pain to Tony. He was there every step of the way as things went badly for her. Rivkin, Tel Aviv, and in many ways Somalia. If Rivkin wasn't dead, he'd have been on that mission. If Eli wasn't exposed by Tony, she probably wouldn't have been put on that mission. If you had chosen her over Tony, she would have come home with you. Each step involved Tony," Ducky said.

"Including saving her," sighed Gibbs.

"She is not being rational right now, Jethro. She is a young woman in pain, both physically and mentally. In time with therapy she will become rational, but right now she feels what she feels," Ducky said.

"He loves her, Duck. This is going to destroy him," Gibbs said.

"And she loves him, which is probably why she has chosen to hate him. He should have protected her from Rivkin or her father. She is lashing out at him because she wanted him to be the one in her bed not Rivkin. If he was then this would have never happened," Ducky said.

"What do we do?" asked Gibbs.

"What do you do, Jethro," Ducky revered it on him. "She needs you. And, eventually, in the coming weeks she needs to come back to work and rebuild her self-esteem, as well as go to therapy. Unfortunately, she can't work with Anthony. She will need to be with another team."

"No," said Gibbs. "I need to protect her Ducky. She needs to stay with my team. Tony is ready to run his own team. I'll talk to Vance about it."

Ducky sighed. He was afraid that it would happen this way. Leroy Jethro Gibbs was a difficult man and he seldom did things the easy way. In many ways, he was now picking between his children and he was choosing the one who needed him the most, even if it destroyed the other one.

"Do think about your decision, Jethro. Anthony doesn't have family other than us," he said.

"She needs us now, Duck, and I won't let her father get his claws into her again," growled Gibbs.

NCIS

Tony got to work on time for a change for a Monday. Instead of spending the weekend womanizing or drinking, he spent it listening to music and wondering how he was going to bridge the gap between him and Ziva that existed right now. He understood that she needed time, four months being brutalized in a terrorist camp in Somalia was devastating for anyone, but for his ninja who was used to being strong and independent, so it must have been unbearable to be unable to do anything but endure for four months.

McGee was down with Abby doing God knows what and Gibbs was somewhere, which left tony alone in the bullpen. He looked at Ziva's empty desk and sighed. For the first time since Wendy, he felt as if he could completely commit to one person, and that person was Ziva.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs yelled from the mezzanine.

Tony looked up and saw him. He waved to Tony to join him. Tony stood up adjusted the black silk tie he wore then the jacket of his black Armani suit. In a matter of moments, he found himself in Director Vance's officer with Gibbs. They were seated at the conference table. Tony looked over at Gibbs, who refused to make eye contact with him. He looked like the proper gunny sitting straight in the chair with his eyes forward.

"Special Agent in Charge James Han is retiring and we need a replacement. Agent Gibbs told me that he believes you are ready to step up and take on the load of being a leader. After what I saw you do in Tel Aviv with Eli David and Somalia I agree," said Vance.

"Han – isn't he in Singapore?" asked Tony.

"He's the SAC in charge of Singapore," said Vance. "I want you to take the job. It's a big one, Tony. NCIS is the only Defense Criminal Investigative Organization in the area. Singapore is the main field office but Singapore is responsible for overseeing Manila, Sydney, Perth, East Timor, India, Indonesia, Laos, New Zealand, Papua, Maldives, Fiji, Malaysia, Philippines, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Tonga, Tasmania, Thailand, Vietnam, and Diego Gracia to name a few. It'll be a hard job."

Tony looked over at Gibbs, who finally made eye contact with him.

"Take the job, DiNozzo. It's time you go. I've already asked Vance to reassign Stan Burley as my senior field Agent," Gibbs said.

Gibbs felt like a bastard, especially as he saw Tony's face almost crumble with shock and pain. Tony felt as if Gibbs had taken a knife out and gutted him like a fish. He almost couldn't breathe, so he looked away from Gibbs and to Vance.

"Do you want the position, Tony?" asked Vance.

"I guess so," said Tony.

Vance broke out into a smile. He offered his right hand to Tony to shake. Tony shook it.

"Congratulations, SAC DiNozzo," he said.

Tony looked at Gibbs, who nodded.

"It's for the best," Gibbs said.

"Yeah. For the best," Tony repeated the words.

He got up on unsteady legs hoping either man noticed that he wanted to fall to his knees and scream.

"Well, when do I need to report?" he asked.

"You have a week to get your life in order," said Vance.

"Sounds like a deal," smiled Tony. It hurt to smile but he knew it was expected of him. He walked out of the Director's office and headed to the Men's Room to vomit.

NCIS

Abby was the hardest one to tell. He told McGee with a smile and slap on the shoulder and McGee bought that he wanted the promotion to Singapore. Ducky gave him a knowing nod and Jimmy a surprisingly warm hug. However, Abby the Goth dressed as if a Catholic schoolgirl took it about as well as he thought she would: she balled her eyes out. Tony gave her a big warm hug.

"I pinkie swear, Abby, I'll keep in touch," he said.

"It won't be the same. You'll be gone," she said. "Why, Tony, why are you deserting us?"

"I'm not deserting you, Abs," he said.

"Yes, you are," she cried.

For the rest of the day he filled out paperwork with personnel and avoided Gibbs who avoided him. Once work was out, Gibbs went home to Ziva and Tony followed. He parked his Mustang and waited ten minutes before he finally drew the courage to talk to Gibbs and see Ziva. It needed to be done.

Walking up the porch steps, he rang the buzzer instead of knocking or just busting in. Gibbs opened the door and sighed when he saw it was Tony. Tony's green eyes met Gibbs' blue eyes. Both men felt the tension.

"That was a fun day. Right boss?" he said.

"Why are you here, DiNozzo?" asked Gibbs.

"Need to talk to you and Ziva. You owe me that much," he said.

Gibbs walked into the house. Tony followed him and shut the door behind him. Standing in the doorway between the living room and dining room was Ziva. She had on sweatpants and tee shirt with her dark hair down and wild and her dark eye staring at him with anger.

"Talk. I'll be in the basement," Gibbs growled then opened his basement door and disappeared.

"You heard about my so-call promotion?" he asked her.

She nodded yes.

"What do you think about it?" she said. "Half way across the world is about as close to me as I want you."

"Ziva," he said with shock.

He started to walk towards her but he saw her tense up and look almost afraid. Tony stopped. This wasn't his Ziva before him but a broken woman. He needed to be careful with her.

"You want me to go," he said.

"Yes," she answered.

"Why?" he asked.

"I hate you. You killed Michael. It should have been you not him then my father sends me to Somalia to fulfill Michael's mission because of you. I hate you," she spat at him.

Tony's insides turned to stone. She was right about it. Everything was his fault. She suffered and almost died because of him. Without thinking, he walked into her personal space. Ziva immediately slapped him across the face. It stung, but she wasn't done. She slapped him again and again and again until he finally stepped away from her. He could taste the blood where his lip split.

"I'm sorry," he said softly.

"That is not good enough. Nothing you do is good enough," she said coldly.

"You're right," he said. "Tell Gibbs I won't be bothering him or you again."

He turned and left. Ziva fell to her knees and started weeping. She couldn't explain why but it hurt to see him leave.

Chapter One

**Fifteen Months Later**

Tony sat in his office reading reports from Sydney, Perth, and Manila. The NCIS field office was located in Sembawang Wharves, as part of the Changi Naval Base. The PSA Sembawang Terminal housed the COMLOG WESTPAC, PACOM, Pacific Air Force, Commander Pacific Fleet, Commander Seventh Fleet, US ARMY Pacific, as well as USAF 497th Combat training Squad. Like Sydney. Perth, and Manila, Singapore mainly a port of call rather than a busy hub for US ships to be stationed. Hundreds of ships passed through with plenty of naval personnel to get into trouble, especially since a good time could be found in Singapore.

Singapore was a city state, three and half times the size of DC with a population of almost five million. The main language spoken was English, but on the streets, you could hear Singlish, a mix of Cantonese, English, Malay, Hokkien, Tamil, and Teochew. There was no cool season here. The temperature averaged a humid ninety degrees during the day and a humid seventy degrees at night.

Tony tossed the reports on his desk and stood up. Gone were the days that he wore expensive suits. His usual work attire now was either cargo pants or jeans with a linen oxford shirt or safari shirt, sensible and durable shoes or hiking boots and a black blazer. Suits weren't practical in the hot and humid weather. He just sweat through them.

Stretching his body, which was a good twenty pounds lighter since he was in DC; he looked out at his squad room. His MCRT was working a missing Petty Officer and the contingency agents were busy enough preparing for the USS Reagan and accompanying ships arrival. He was tired. About six months ago, he developed insomnia. He now averaged about three hours of sleep a night. His smartphone rang. He reached into his cargo pants and pulled it out.

"DiNozzo," he answered.

"_It's Inspector Kuan_," said Inspector Lee Kuan.

Tony had developed a good relationship with Kuan and the Singapore Police Force.

"Hey, Lee," Tony replied.

"_I have a body in the red light district in a seedy hotel. Looks to be a LT Commander Marvin Burns. I thought you might want this one_," he said.

"I'll be there with my ME and a couple of agents," said Tony. "What's the problem?"

"_You'll see_," he said then hung.

Geylang was the Red Light District of Singapore. It was filled with Beauty and Body Spas, brothels, cheap hotels, and every perversion imaginable. The Hotel in question was Hotel 81. Tony arrived with Agent Benny Chan and Michael Forrest, who wore NCIS windbreakers and hats, as well as the ME Dawn Chang and her assistant Kim Santiago. Tony and the agents pulled up in a Honda Accord while the ME arrived in a mini-van. Compacts and smaller cars dominated the city.

Entering the hotel Tony pushed passed some police by showing his badge. Inspector Kuan saw him and smiled.

"You made good time," he said.

"Show me the damage, Lee," said Tony.

Lee led him to the elevator. In third floor hotel room, Lt Commander Burns was lying on the floor. A rope bound him around his ankles, his genitals, around his wrists behind his back, and his neck.

"Popular way of tying up customers for prostitutes who have customer who wants sexual asphyxiation," Lee said. "My men were going to call it either accidental death or suicide. Suicide, bodoh shit."

Bodoh shit translated to ignorant shit. He smiled and Tony laughed. Tony turned and addressed his men, who carried their forensic gear.

"Work the crime scene. Once you're done I want you then to start canvassing," he said. "I'll accept accidental death or murder but not suicide."

"Yes, boss," the two men said in unison.

The attractive petite, black haired ME came in with her assistant. He shot her a warm smile.

"Dr. Chang, sorry to ruin your dinner," he said.

"I had no plans," she said then she went about to get to work.

"You let me know what you find out," Lee said to Tony. "Some of my men are cheena."

"I understand, Lee," smiled Tony.

"So, what are you plans for the night?" Lee asked Tony.

"I'm supposed to go to a dinner at the Eagle Country Club, but I think this gets me out of it," he said.

"Maybe you go to some hump hump bar instead," smiled Lee.

Tony yawned. He was getting too old for hump hump bars.

"I think I'll just go back to the office, read some reports, and wait to see what we have here," said Tony.

Tony walked over to Dr. Chang.

"Hey, Doc, I'll be in my office. If you have anything tonight, please let me know," he said.

"I'll have you buy me a cup coffee," she said.

"Sounds good," he said then he turned to Chan. "Don't forget to get the security tape. Bring along one of Singapore's finest to get it, too."

"Sure, boss," he said.

Tony strolled out of the hotel room. LT. Commander Burns didn't kill himself, but if it was an accidental death, does he let it slide. He decided when the time came. It was going to be a late night.

NCIS

Ziva got in early enough so that Stan wasn't at his desk. No, it wasn't his desk, it was Tony's desk. Eight months into therapy, life became clearer for her as she realized what she felt for Tony wasn't hate. It was something completely different, but she had managed to get him banished to Singapore. Except for Abby, who still wouldn't talk to her, Tony didn't get in touch with any of the old team. From what she heard, Vance was thrilled with the job that he was doing.

About a month ago, they had a Singapore agent come through the office. He was headed to Rhode Island after three years in Singapore. It seemed that Tony DiNozzo was no longer the man they remembered him to be. According to Agent Munn, he didn't wear expensive clothes; there were no film quotes, no joking, or sense of humor, just a driven professional who didn't seem to have a personal life. Ziva went home and cried that night.

Stan came strolling into the office. He tossed his backpack down behind his desk and gave Ziva a smile.

"Morning, Ziva," he said.

"Morning, Stan," she replied.

McGee was the next to come in. He looked tired.

"Morning, guys," he said, as he headed to his desk and collapsed in his seat.

"Playing online or writing another book?" Stan asked.

"Book," sighed McGee.

"What's wrong?" asked Stan.

"I decided to kill off Agent Tommy. It's too hard a character to write without DiNozzo around," he admitted.

Ziva heard this and stiffened. McGee was killing off Agent Tommy. Tony was never coming back. Gibbs came walking through the bullpen with his coffee.

"If you kill off Agent Tommy, I want you to kill off Tibbs," growled Gibbs.

"Boss, you… I mean Tibbs is the main character. There is no book without him," said Gibbs.

"Hardly a team without Tommy," Gibbs said.

Stan and McGee looked as if they had been head slapped, while Ziva found herself in agreement with Gibbs. The team still functioned but not as well. They still had the best closure rate at 92 percent, but that was down from when Tony was there. Also, everything just seemed harder now.

"Okay, maybe I won't kill off Tommy," McGee offered the peace offering.

Before the conversation could go any further, Abby came into the bullpen.

"His Stan, McGee," she said.

She ignored Ziva and Gibbs, who she blamed equally for Tony's absence. Gibbs knew how angry she was at him. He tried several times to make amends, but he had to settle for some days were better than others. Today was not a good day. With a file behind her back, she turned and looked at Gibbs.

"Agent Gibbs," she said.

"What is it, Abs?" he sighed.

She brought the file from her back and dropped it on his desk.

"Here are the tests you wanted done," she said.

"Thanks, Abs," he said.

Without another word, she walked away. Today was a bad day.

NCIS

Vance waited for the hook up with the Singapore field office. There was a twelve-hour difference, so SAC DiNozzo agreed to be in the office at midnight for this face-to-face. The head tech brought up Singapore. Suddenly, there was DiNozzo standing in Singapore's MTAC. He was wearing jeans, a khaki safari shirt. His sandy hair was longer than it used to be and combed to the side without the spikiness and he had a few days' worth of beard.

"SAC DiNozzo, sorry to keep you at the office so late," Vance started the meeting.

"No problem, Director," Tony answered.

"You've done a remarkable," said Vance.

"Thank you, sir," Tony said. "Shall I start with LT Commander Burns?"

"Please do," said Vance.

"We are recommending accidental death. It appears that the LT Commander Burns hired a sixteen-year-old prostitute. We have him on a security feed entering the hotel with her. It appears that Burns like autoerotic asphyxiation. I interviewed the girl. He had her tie him up in a rather embracing way and since this was her first time, she tied it too tight. He started choking to death and she couldn't get the knot out. When this happened, she panicked and ran leaving him to asphyxiate. I turned her over to Inspector Kuan of the Singapore Police Force," he explained.

As he finished his explanations, Ziva slipped into MTAC. She had no idea that Vance was talking to Tony. In twenty minutes, she had a hook up with San Diego. She was shocked to see him on the screen. He looked tired with darkness under his eyes and he'd lost weight. Staying in the shadows she listened to them talk.

"Good job. What are they going to do with the girl?" Vance asked.

"I asked Kuan to run her through the system for prostitution and get her released. It's not her fault she was picked up by a kinky pedophile Commander," sighed Tony.

"Agreed," said Vance. "Our next topic is a happier one. Assistant Director Kimble has taken a job with Homeland Security. I am offering you the job of Assistant Director of Southeast Asia, Special Agent DiNozzo. Do you accept?"

"Me? Really? May I ask why, sir?" Tony asked.

"Because you have proven yourself more than capable and that field office covers more territory than any other. I need a hands on Assistant Director and that's you. Do you accept?" asked Vance.

"It seems like I've found a home in Singapore. I've been searching for one most of my life. I thought I had found it in DC, but I was wrong. Singapore is it," Tony smiled. It was a little forced, but Vance chalked it up to being midnight in Singapore and the man had probably at work for fifteen or sixteen hours or more.

Home. Ziva felt her insides tightened. He had a home in DC and family and she forced him out.

"Paperwork will be processed and I'll send out a system wide e-mail about the promotion," said Vance. "You'll be doing a lot more travel now, so I'd make sure you pick one or two agents who you trust as your private security. You'd be amazed how a title can draw people's attention."

"I've already got a couple men in mind who I trust," said Tony.

"Get some sleep, Tony. We'll be having more of these conversations," said Vance then he gave the kill sign and the screen went blank.

Vance turned and started to head up the stairs when he saw Ziva sitting in the back row. He stopped to talk to her.

"Agent David, I've been meaning to talk to you. Have you spoken to your father at all?" he asked.

"No, Director. Our relationship is strained since Somalia," she said.

"I can't blame you. You've made a great recovery, Ziva. You should be proud of yourself," he said.

"The recovery came at a cost. I made some mistakes when I first came home," she said.

"You were broken when you came back to us, so, of course, you may have made some mistakes. You are no longer broken, Ziva," he said. "Anyway, you can always make up for your mistakes."

"Can you, Director? Can you really?" she asked him sincerely.

"I believe that you can if you put the effort into it," he said. "Trust me I have made a great many mistakes."

"I hope you are right," she said.

Vance smiled and nodded: "I do, too."

He walked out of MTAC leaving Ziva thinking about her mistakes.

NCIS

He wore his black Armani blazer with a white linen shirt and pair of khaki linen pants. It was his first day in the big office for Tony. He thought he would have been nervous or excited but he wasn't. Tony felt sort of empty. When he checked his e-mail, he saw one from Abby congratulating him and one from Stan Burley doing the same then a short e-mail from Ziva, which surprised him. It also congratulated him. Of course, there was nothing from Gibbs and he didn't expect anything.

His secretary Janet Yam let Tony's replacement into his office, SAC Linda Morimoto. Linda was half-Irish and half Japanese with beautiful long black hair, which she wore up in a bun.

"Linda, take a seat," Tony said.

"Congratulations, Director DiNozzo," she said.

He smiled.

"I thought we could start with human trafficking. Usually, this doesn't fall under our jurisdiction, but there is a rumor about some of our sailors being involved in a local ring," he started.

"You want me to start an investigation on this ring," she said.

"Yup. Use the MCRT if you like," he said. "Also, I need two men for personnel security. It seems that the title director brings attention from killers and kidnappers."

"How does Hank Thornson, who is an ex-Marine, and Mike James sound?" she suggested.

"Talk to them for me, Janet," he said.

"I will," she said.

"Call from Sydney field office on the line, sir," Janet Yam said over the intercom.

Tony picked up the phone and hit the intercom button: "Thanks, Janet."

He pushed the blinking red light button:  
"Assistant Director DiNozzo here."

"Director, this is SAC Linus Philbin. First off let me congratulate on your first day on the job," Philbin said.

"Thank you, SAC Philbin," replied DiNozzo then he waited for the real reason for the call.

"I think we may have a serial killer who likes US sailors," he said.

Tony closed his eyes and sighed: "I'll be on a plane in the morning. Let Vance know."

"Ace. I'll have some amber fluid waiting for you. You're going to need," said Philbin.

"It's that bad," said Tony.

"If I wasn't in charge I'd chuck sickie on this one," said Philbin.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Tony hung up.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

It had been seven months as Asst. Director, twenty-three months in Singapore, and this was his sixth dead sailor or marine. He stood with Special Agent Hank Thornson by his side. Thornson was two inches taller than Tony and built like a NFL linebacker. Sweat rolled down his brown skin because he insisted on wearing the NCIS windbreaker. Tony had a pair of cargo pants and a blue linen dress shirt with its sleeves rolled up. His badge and gun hung off his belt on the right side.

"Lee," he said, as Inspector Kuan approached him.

"Another mess for you," Kuan said.

"Yeah, another mess for me," exhaled Tony.

"I'll let you get to work," Kuan said then he strolled away.

It was one in the morning and they stood in the IndoChine Waterfront by the Singapore River. Tony looked over at Bar Opiume, the fancy, trendy place that filtered through the wealthy and wannabe wealthy night after night for drinks and IndoChinese cuisine. His eye then drifted over to the impressive and historic Empress Place. The building was currently the second wing of the Asians Civilizations Museum.

At Boat Quay in a sampan was the body of Ensign Edward Tyner. Like the previous five bodies, Tony could guess what awaited him. The Ensign had a paralytic administered to him then he was gutted and had his large intestine removed and placed beside the body. His MCRT was working the scene along with Dr. Dawn Chang. He pulled out his smartphone and dialed Vance's smartphone.

"_Don't tell me we have another, Tony_," Vance answered the smartphone.

"Number six. I standing here at one in the morning sweating my ass off by the Singapore River wishing it wasn't true," he said.

"_We have a MCRT working on this in Australia, agents in New Zealand, and Thailand, and now Singapore. Each time ships had just arrived and men given shore leave_," Vance said. "_And each time there was no forensics_."

"Just a ranger knife was used to cut the victim open and the paralytic Rocuronium used," sighed Tony.

"_We need fresh eyes on this. I'm going to give this case to Gibbs' Team to look at, including crime scene photos, autopsies, the works. Have the information scanned and sent in e-mail_ _files. Maybe their new eyes will see something we've missed_," said Vance.

Tony tried not grinding his teeth when he heard Vance wanted to use Gibbs' Team. It made sense, though. They had the best closure rate in the system and Ducky and Jimmy would get a chance to review things.

"I'll have it sent right away," said Tony.

"_E-mail it to me_," said Vance.

"Consider it done, Leon," said Tony.

"_I know you don't want to work with them, but we need to catch whoever is doing this and you have more than a serial murderer on your plate_," said Vance.

"I know, Leon. I'm not complaining," said Tony.

"_I'll talk to you later, Tony. Try and get some sleep_," said Vance.

Tony hung up.

"Anything wrong, boss?" asked Thornson.

"I want this bastard caught," said Tony.

He dialed SAC Morimoto. After the fourth ring, she answered her smartphone clumsily. He could hear a guy in the background sigh in frustration.

"Sorry to disturb your slap and tickle time, Linda, but we have another body," he said.

"_Shit. Same MO_?" she asked.

"Looks that way," he said. "I need you to collect every bit information and crime scene photos and e-mail everything to Vance. He's having a MCRT in DC go over everything to see if they can find a clue."

"_Oh, goody, grunt work_," she bitched.

"You expect me to do it SAC Morimoto," he growled.

"_No, Director DiNozzo. I'll get on it now_," she hung up.

He heard Thornson chuckle.

"I admit sometimes it's good to be in charge," said Tony.

"Yes, sir," said Thornson.

"Where's Mike tonight?" asked Tony.

"Getting his pipes cleaned," smiled Thornson. "He told me to call him if he was needed."

"Agent James gets his pipes cleaned as much as I did when I was younger," said Tony.

"He needs a hobby," said Thornson.

"Hank, sex can be a hobby," Tony smiled.

"A hobby that is eventually going to bite you on the ass," said Thornson.

"I feel your pain, brother," said Tony. "Let's go back to the office."

NCIS

Vance walked into the Gibbs' bullpen. Just from the expression on his face and his body language, Gibbs knew that he had a weight on his shoulder and he was about to share it. He stopped and tossed a flash drive to McGee, who caught it and then stared at Vance. Gibbs glared at Ziva to let her know to get off the phone with her latest boyfriend. She quickly hung up.

"The floor is yours, Leon," said Gibbs.

"We have a serial killer in Southeast Asia. So far, four Navy personnel and two marines have been murdered in the last seven months. I just tossed McGee a flash drive with all the information we have, including crime scene photos, autopsies reports, and agent notes. I want your team to review it and see if you can gleam something that we are missing," said Vance.

"Six murders in seven months and they have nothing," growled Gibbs. "What idiot is running the investigation?"

Vance closed his eyes and shook his head. Now was when things were going to get fun.

"Asst. Director DiNozzo himself has been overseeing the investigation. He has flown out to every crime scene, pushed, and pushed the agents. The man is getting near burnout and I can't afford that because he is also working on a heroin smuggling network and a white slave ring," Vance snapped. "He needs a good team to take an overview and see if something has been missed."

Gibbs was tempted to give himself a head slap. Of course, Tony would be working the case. It had been almost two years and he still missed his former SFA. He looked over at McGee.

"Start printing out that information then give it to Stan to split between the three of you. I want all autopsy reports and photos to go to Ducky for his opinion," barked Gibbs then he looked at Vance. "We need two day then we are going to need to talk to Asst. Director DiNozzo."

"That can be arranged. I don't think the poor bastard sleeps anymore," sighed Vance.

Ziva tried not to look upset at the mention of Tony's name. She had tried to forget about him, tried to forget about her lingering resentment towards him, as well as her guilt. Once she had dealt with her hate for Tony in therapy realizing it was many things but not real hate, she knew that her feelings for him with far too complicated to easily sum up. Yet, the one feeling that was there and she could shake was quilt.

"_I can't live without you," he told her under duress and under the influence of a truth serum. _

If he loved her so much why didn't he break rule 12 and fight for her? Why didn't steal her from Rivkin? It wouldn't have been hard. All he had to do was call her and she would have come running. But, he never did break rule 12 for her. His loyalty, or was it fear, of Gibbs was too great.

Her feelings for him were still complicated. There was nothing but extremes involved in her relationship with DiNozzo. They had saved each other's lives. He had especially saved hers. And she had threatened his live. In Tel Aviv, she knocked him on his ass and put her gun to his chest. She could have fired then, too, but something stopped her. It was fear, retribution, or consequences. She was in Israel at Mossad Headquarters, so she could have gotten away with anything. No, it was one of those extreme emotions, an extreme emotion she tried to repress.

NCIS

Tony had a two-bedroom condo near Holland Village. It was far from a luxury apartment and even after fourteen months living there, it was barely furnished. At six AM, his doorbell rang and he let Agents Thornson and James into his place. Both men were dressed in chinos, white dress shirts, and light blazers, while Tony was still in his robe. He had been up since three in the morning going over reports on the serial murderer case, as well as the heroin smuggling and white slave ring.

"Coffee is made, boys. Help yourself," he said.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready, boss," said Mike James.

James was six feet tall, blond, handsome, and a diehard womanizer. He loved Singapore.

"James, don't push me this morning. I think I got an hour and half sleep last night. I'm cranky," he said.

"I'm making you breakfast, boss," said Thornson.

"Hank, if you make breakfast than make it for us all," he said.

"Sure, boss," said Hank.

"I'm taking a shower," he said.

Tony disappeared into the back. He got under a warm shower and let the water transport him somewhere else. It was almost two years since he left DC. Two years. He left feeling like he had been betrayed by Gibbs, but, more importantly, he felt as if he had let down the woman he loved. She was right when she told him that his actions led to her in a terrorist camp being tortured and abused. His actions. She should have said his mistakes because he had made enough of them in this life.

He stepped out of the shower, wipes the mirror with a towel, and stared at himself for a moment. There was a time when he was vain. He'd spend time primping and preening, but not any longer, no hair products or creams for the skin. He just was who he was now. Rubbing his face, he contemplated a shave, but decided against it. He was getting used to the unshaven look. It suited him.

He ran a comb through his hair pushing his hair to the side and that was that. Now he was ready to get dressed. He grabbed a pair of faded jeans, slipped a belt through the loops, then grabbed a pink linen dress shirt. After slipping his feet into a pair of loafers, he clipped his badge and gun to the belt then grabbed his black blazer.

His first appointment today was with the special agent in charge of the white slave ring. He had two agents undercover, one brought in from the Philippines to act as a greedy master Chief who didn't mind making money off of anything and another one, who was trying to hook up with the slave ringers in Singapore. He exited his bedroom.

At his dining room table, there were scrambled eggs, bacon, and toasts and butter waiting for him along with a fresh cup of coffee. Hank and Mike were already eating, so Tony sat down and joined them.

"Okay, Hank, you win. Can I hire you as my cook and bodyguard?" asked Tony.

"Boss, I'll be glad to make you the occasionally meal, but I ain't no cook," Hank replied.

"Looks like I have to live on takeout then," sighed tiny then he made a pouty.

He had to admit that he came closer to being his old self with his bodyguards then with anyone else. There were jokes, talk about sports, and even the odd mention about movies.

"Favorite Western?" asked Mike.

"_Magnificent Seven_," answered Hank.

"Based on Kurosawa's _Seven Samurai_," added Tony.

"Good one, but I'd go with _Tombstone_ with Kurt Russell," said Mike.

"_Who's your huckleberry_?" Tony quoted the movie, which made his men laugh.

"What's your favorite, boss?" asked Mike.

Tony shoveled some eggs into his mouth before answering.

"_The Searchers_. John Ford directing and John Wayne starring as the obsessed Ethan Edwards. Nothing is better. As a matter of fact Ethan Edwards reminded me of an old boss of mine," Tony said, as he thought of Gibbs.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs, a man obsessed with justice and other things. He was also a laconic man who didn't show affection easily, but like John Wayne's Ethan Edwards when he took Natalie Woods in his arms to protect her in the end, Gibbs did the same with Ziva. His boss, who tossed him aside and his loyalty for Ziva. He couldn't deny Ziva her protector, but he still could be hurt by Gibbs, who tossed him aside.

"We should have a Western movie night," said Mike. "What do you say boss?"

"Sounds good to me," he said.

Tony looked at his watch. It was time he got to work.

NCIS

"Talk to me, Ducky," Gibbs said as he entered autopsy.

"Ah, Jethro, I've been expecting you," said the bow tied and bespectacled ME.

Ducky was sitting at his desk in the corner looking at photos of the wounds. He got up with two photos and put them down on the autopsy table.

"First, the Rocuronium bromide. It is an aminosteroid non-depolarizing neuromuscular blocker, or muscle relaxant, used in modern anaesthesia, to facilitate endotracheal intubation and to provide skeletal muscle relaxation during surgery or mechanical ventilation. Or in this case it is used in a dosage which relaxes the victim so that they can't move allowing for the murderer to do his work," Ducky explained. "This means that our murderer has some medical knowledge."

"Okay, he could be a corpsman or someone who maybe had some schooling on this," said Gibbs.

"Or just someone with an unnatural interest in such things," said Ducky. "Next are these photos of the wound. Look closely at them."

Gibbs stared at the two photos for a minute. He finally looked at Ducky.

"One is a smoother cut than the other," he said.

"Exactly," Ducky smiled. "One is a smoother cut than the other. Two different people made these cuts. On five of the victims, we have the same smooth, non-profession cut, sort of like the cut used to gut an animal or fish. On one of the victims you have a hesitant, rough cut."

"Was the rough cut the first victim?" asked Gibbs.

"Excellent question. No," said Ducky. "It was fourth in the Philippines."

"Okay, Duck, tell me what I should be seeing," said Gibbs.

"The killer is not a killer but a pair. One baits the victim and administers the bromide and the other one does the dirty work, but on one occasion, the bait tried to make the kill and didn't like it. They are a watcher not a participant in the cruel act. I'd say you are looking for a man and a woman," Ducky said.

Gibbs grimaced: "How did DiNozzo miss this?"

"He is unfortunately working with four MEs not one. He would have had to make the discovery himself by staring at the photos like I did," said Ducky. "You told me he is under stress with under ops. We both know that Anthony can overtax himself sometimes by taking on too much when he is feeling insecure."

"He needs one ME to do all the work," sighed Gibbs.

"Exactly," said Ducky.

"That's, Duck. I need to see Abby now," he said then strode out of autopsy and headed to the elevator for Abby's lab.

Abby was dressed in black jeans, a black Tee shirt, various spiked silver jewelry and he white lab coat. He placed the CafPow beside her as she worked on her computer.

"How can I assist you, Agent Gibbs?" she said.

"Not today, Abby. I need your help on this. I need you to tell me how they concluded that it was a Ranger knife," he said.

"They did not, Gibbs," she said turning away from her computer. "I did. Tony asked me to look into the wound for him and I concluded it came from a US Army Ranger folding knife. The knife features a 440 stainless steel, partially serrated drop point 3 5/8" blade with ambidextrous thumb studs for easy opening and closing. The blade and stainless steel handle both offer a black titanium camouflaged finish. The handle also offers a liner lock, lanyard hole, and pocket clip. This tactical knife measures 5" closed and is an ideal knife for use in the field and it can easily be purchased at Army surplus stores."

"Does Tony ask for your help often?" Gibbs asked.

"Whenever he doesn't trust his forensic people, which is often enough," she said.

"You never told me," he said.

"It was between me and Tony," she said.

"I miss him, too, Abs," Gibbs admitted to her.

"You sent him away and kept Ziva close to you. She hated him and you chose her side," Abby hissed.

"She was sick, Abby, in pain and needed me. He could handle himself and he proved it, too. Look how well he has done for himself. He is an assistant director now," Gibbs said.

"But we were his family and we, no; you and Ziva hurt him badly. He still hasn't recovered from it," Abby said.

Gibbs saw that her eyes got watery. Tony was like a brother to her and he had banished her brother.

"Ziva is better now, Abby. She realizes it wasn't Tony fault what happened to her. It was more complicated than that. But, at that time, she was in too much pain to see the truth," Gibbs said. "I have to take care of my daughters."

Abby looked at him and started to cry. He opened his arms and she ran into them. Gibbs consoled her and kissed her head.

"Try to make this right, Gibbs," she said.

"I'll try, Abs," he said.

"I'll try to make up with Ziva," she said, "but I won't guarantee anything."

"Okay, Abs," he said.

NCIS

Every six months or so the urge to get drunk and laid overtook Tony. Being that it was Singapore, it was easy to satisfy the urge. When he was told he had a nine in the evening MTAC hookup with Gibbs and his Team tomorrow night, he chose tonight to get drunk and laid.

Brix was located in the basement of the Grand Hyatt Regency on Scotts Road. It was noted as a pickup joint for businessmen, Caucasian expats, and the Geyland princess who could be bought for a price. Tony chose Brix because the men tended to be in the thirty to fifty age range. The other nightclubs were filled twenty-something's, which he definitely was no longer of that group.

Standing at the bar, the music was Sly and the family Stone's _Everyday People_. Men and young women filled the dance floor, as colored lights from a disco ball added annoying lighting effect. Tony sipped his Dewar's 18, which was eighteen-year-old scotch. An attractive young women with Eurasian features sashayed over to him. She had long black hair and a sensuous lower lip. Tony guessed she was a professional girl, probably from Geyland.

"Hi," she said, "you looking for some fun."

Tony smiled: "How much for the night? Agak-agak?"

Agak-agak was Singlish for estimate. She smiled at this.

"You work fast," she said. "I like the way you look, handsome and green eyes. How about four bills?"

"Four hundred for the night?" he asked.

"Four hundred," she smiled. "Double confirm."

She was more than attractive, willing and it was legal in Singapore, but more important there were no strings or emotions attached. Tony took his wallet out and slipped her four one hundred dollar bills then he downed the rest of his scotch.

"My place," he said, "no hotel."

"Good with me. Whatever you want handsome?"

Tony took her back to his apartment and lost himself in her body for the night. He knew it wasn't real when she told him how wonderful he was or how good he felt, but he didn't care. He just needed to blow off the steam and be in the right frame of mind for his MTAC meeting with Gibbs and his team. He didn't need complications or real emotions, just someone to work off his frustration on.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Vance, Gibbs, Stan, McGee, and Ziva, along with Abby and Ducky gathered in MTAC. It was a crowded bunch, but Gibbs thought it good to have the whole team there in the hopes of defusing any confrontation between him and DiNozzo. He wasn't looking to fight with Tony.

"Tech, bring up Singapore," Vance ordered.

An image of Tony along with an attractive woman came up. Ziva looked at him. He was wearing a white linen dress shirt with sleeves rolled up and cargo pants. Although, he looked thinner than he had been in years and tired, she still found him handsome. Her heart started to beat a little faster, even though part of her wanted to yell at him for many reasons. Abby immediately broke protocol.

"Tony, Tony, Tony!" she jumped up and down.

"Hey, Abs," he smiled.

Vance took quick control: "Assistant Director DiNozzo, Gibbs, and his Team have come up with some interesting insights."

"Yes, Director," said Tony.

"I thought Agent Gibbs could start," said Vance, who then nodded to Gibbs.

Gibbs looked at DiNozzo and took a deep breath: "Ducky made some interesting discoveries. By comparing knife wounds, he saw that there was difference from one of wounds."

Gibbs stopped and looked at Ducky: "Duck, you want to explain."

"Of course, Jethro. From this, I concluded that your killer is actually two killers. One is bait and one is the butcher," he said.

"A female for bait and a guy doing the killer. She probably wanted to do the kill once," Tony said.

"Exactly, Anthony," smiled Ducky.

"How did I miss this?" he said more to himself than them.

"Too many MEs. You need to have one ME doing all the work, my dear boy," Ducky said.

"I'll put my ME in charge. She is good," he said.

"I think that will help," Ducky said.

"Thanks, Ducky," Tony said smiled a killer smile and for a moment it was the old Tony they saw on the screen.

"The one doing the cutting…," Gibbs started.

"The butcher," interrupted Ducky.

"The butcher probably has hunting skills. His cuts look like the cuts used to gut an animal, or so Ducky said," Gibbs told him.

"One of them has some medical knowledge to use the bromide to induce paralysis that they use," Ducky added.

"Okay, it's looking more and more like I need a different approach to this one. We are too scattered on this, too many teams and locations," said Tony.

"I agree, Tony," said Vance. "I'm inclined to put one team in charge under you."

"I'd like that team to be my top MCRT. They improved vastly the last year," said Tony.

"I've seen their closure rate, Tony. I have the feeling you've worked with them," said Vance.

"Just smooth some of the rough edges off them," he said.

"I want to go with the best," said Vance.

"No, don't tell me what I think you are," sighed Tony.

"I want Gibbs' Team on this," said Vance.

"Director, they don't know the terrain, the local LEOs, the politics of this area. This isn't there home court," Tony said.

"But they are the best team in the system," Vance said.

"In DC not here. The locals will find Gibbs way of investigating dao," Tony said.

"Dao?" growled Gibbs.

"Arrogant and haughty," Tony said.

"You know the extra B is for Bastard, DiNozzo," Gibbs said.

"And that doesn't work here with the Singapore Police Force," said Tony.

"And kissing ass does DiNozzo?" Gibbs goaded him.

He'd rather have DiNozzo focused on him and no one else.

"I'm no longer sian tao ong," Tony said.

SAC Morimoto, who was laughing, stopped when Tony glared at her.

"Assistant Director DiNozzo, stand down," said Vance.

Ziva couldn't believe the way Tony acted with Gibbs. It seemed that another victim of Somalia was Tony's and Gibbs' relationship. Where once there was a father and son relationship, there was now an adversarial one.

"Yes, sir," said Tony.

"Gibbs' Team will be heading to Singapore. You will arrange to quarter them and you will oversee them. I don't want any problems and I want you, Assistant Director DiNozzo, to keep it professional," said Vance.

"Of course, sir," Tony said. "SAC Morimoto will act as liaison for the DC Team and provide them with everything they need."

"Oh, oh, I'm going to," Abby spoke up.

"Don't worry, Abby, you can stay with me," smiled Tony.

"Thanks, Tony," Abby said.

"Now, are we any further along with the other investigations?" asked Vance.

"We are close on the white slave ring," said Tony. "I hope to have good news for you in a day or two."

"Excellent," said Vance. "Remember, we went out of jurisdiction on this one because of the alleged involvement of naval personnel. Make sure Singapore Police are involved in this."

"Actually, I got Interpol, also," Tony said.

"Good job, Tony," Vance said.

"Sometimes I get it right," he said.

Just seeing Ziva and talking to Gibbs brought back too many of his insecurities. Gibbs could see Tony's demons coming out. There was a time a smack in the back of head would put him back on track, but now he was the reason that those demons came out. Better to keep him angry then insecure.

"Sometimes," sniffed Gibbs.

He could see Tony's expression become cold and angry. Tony noticed that both Ziva and Abby looked over at Gibbs not even bothering to hide their anger.

"When you get here, Gibbs, know that this is my office and things are done my way. If you don't like that then don't come," Tony growled.

"We'll be there in a couple of days," Gibbs replied.

"Take your time," Tony said.

Vance made the cut off signal and Tony disappeared. He then looked over at Gibbs.

"I need DiNozzo, Gibbs. Don't wind him up so much that I lose him," Vance warned him.

"I know how to handle, DiNozzo," Gibbs said.

"He's changed, but you'll find out," said Vance.

NCIS

Tony had arranged to meet with the undercover man from the Philippines near the Navy Region Center Singapore at PSA Sembawang. He mentioned the fountain with the head of the lion and the body of a fish. With Hank and Mike stay back out of sight, Tony walked along the walkway over the water. He saw a Master Chief in his casual dress leaning on the railing staring at the fountain he mentioned. Tony walked up beside him and leaned on the railing.

"Master Chief Huang," he said.

"DiNozzo?" he asked.

"That's me," he said.

"Master Chief Dennis Mason is selling information to slave ring," he said.

"What kind of information?" Tony asked.

"Security stuff about US and our allies. Shipping lanes, who is patrolling them and when. When they have a shipment go out or come in, they go to him at COMLOGWESTPAC and he finds all the information he can for them and sells it to them," said Huang.

"He has access to a lot of intel, doesn't he?" said Tony.

"More than he should," answered Huang.

"Anything else?" asked Tony.

"Tomorrow at a warehouse in the port midnight, a shipping container full of girls from Yugoslavia is being off loaded. The slave ring will take them and then work them into their pipeline," Huang said.

"Make no waves for the rest of the day or tomorrow. Friday come in to NCIS to fill out your report," said Tony.

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

"We are going to be at the port with Interpol to take them into custody," Tony said.

"How about Master Chief Mason?" asked Huang.

"He'll be picked up tomorrow night," said Tony.

"Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Asst. Director Dinozzo," Huang said.

NCIS

The team had loaded into the DOD's Gulfstream, which the SecNav Okayed the use of. Abby sat down the end of the plane with McGee to keep her company. Ziva, Stan, and Gibbs sat at the front of the plane in comfortable leather seats.

"This is great, boss," said Stan. "Why can't we travel this way more often?"

"I prefer a military transport," Gibbs said.

"How long do you think we will be in Southeast Asia, Gibbs?" asked Ziva.

"Until we find the butcher and the bait," Gibbs answered.

"That could take months," said Ziva.

"Singapore for months, that doesn't too bad," smiled Stan.

"Keep your wick clean and in your pants, Stan," said Gibbs.

"Hey, boss, a man has to have some fun," Stan said.

"You sound like DiNozzo," Gibbs said then scowled.

DiNozzo kept him balanced in some ways. Without DiNozzo, he chewed his team's heads off too often and became obsessed too easily. Tony was his buffer and someone he trusted. He was family and he let him for Ziva. Gibbs looked over at Ziva and she stared back at him. For a moment, they shared a guilt-ridden moment. She had made the mistake of blaming Tony for something, which was his fault, and he had screwed his partner. He broke rule number one.

McGee listened to one of Abby's rants. It was one he had heard too many times these last two years.

"He was family and we turned our back on him. And why? For Ziva. For Gibbs' precious Ziva. I used to think Tony was like a son to him, but he chose her over him. I tell you, McGee, that's just wrong. Tony deserved better than that," Abby rambled.

"Abby," McGee stopped her, "Ziva was sick and in pain from Somalia. She focused her pain and hatred on Tony. It wasn't right but it happened."

"Don't take her side, McGee," said Abby.

"Abby, I'm not taking sides. I'm just trying to be fair that's all," he said. "It took her months of therapy to finally work things out. She knows things were Tony's fault now."

"I tell you, McGee, I can't believe I shared a coffin with you," Abby sighed.

McGee blushed at this comment.

"Abby, please, don't be like that. I told you that I'm not taking sides. I am just trying to be fair to all sides."

"What happened to Tony wasn't fair," she said.

"Abby, he's a God damn assistant Director now. He has really done alright for himself," said McGee.

"Are you saying that he was better off going off to Singapore?" Abby raised her voice drawing the attention of Gibbs, Stan, and Ziva.

"Calm down. I don't want to yell or argue. I should know by now that you can't be rational when it comes to the subject of Tony DiNozzo," McGee said.

"Excuse me for being the only one other than Ducky to take Tony's side in this. We were supposed to be his family and we didn't take his side," she said.

"I give up. I'm not going to argue with you and I'm not going to feel bad for Assistant Director DiNozzo," said McGee.

"You disappoint me, McGee," sighed Abby.

NCIS

Interpol had a six-man special response team in place at the dock near the warehouse, while Tony gathered five agents up with him. He stationed him in his agents in two different crates, that were emptied and turned into Trojan horses. Mike and Hank insisted on being with their boss.

As they patiently waited eight heavily, armed men with assault rifles came into the warehouse.

"Imagine what the heroin smugglers are going to be packing," whispered Mike.

Tony put his finger to his lips to quiet him, though he had a point. A forklift brought a cargo container into the warehouse. Once it was lowered, two men opened it up and twelve dirty, sweaty, tired and scared women were escorted out of the container. The warehouse bay door was opened again and two cargo vans drove in.

"Let's take them," Tony spoke into his walkie-talkie.

An Interpol sniper took out the drivers of the vans, while Tony and his men burst out of their crates. A firefight started and the Interpol team joined in. The women took cover in the container. As the battle played out, Tony saw one of the men, slip out a door. He took off after him.

Avoiding bullets, Tony with Hank in pursuit ran after the slaver. Being a former marine, Hank was in good shape but with the humidity, the heat, and his size, he started to lose ground to Tony. Even as his lungs burned for oxygen, Tony pursued the bastard through the maze of cargo containers and crates of the port. He wasn't going to let him go.

The sweat from the exertion was seeping through his safari shirt, sticking it to his body. His hair was matted to his head from the humidity, but he wouldn't stop. He focused the frustration of the past few days into catching this bastard. Out of desperation and exhaustion, the slaver turned and fired on Tony, who felt his left upper arm burn. He returned fire and put two in the chest and another in his forehead. Tony had to thank Gibbs for one thing and that was his insistence at practicing shooting and shooting to kill.

Hank finally caught up to Tony.

"Boss, you got your arm grazed," he said.

"I'll have Dawn take care of it," Tony said in between drawing deep breaths of air into his lungs and the blood darkened his shirtsleeve.

NCIS

It was an hour later that Tony arrived at NCIS field office along with Hank and Mike. The women were turned over to Interpol and the slaver, who lived, taken by Interpol and Singapore Police Force. Waiting for him at the door was Morimoto. She looked at his arm with concern, but didn't say anything.

"The Master Chief was picked up and is in a holding cell," she said.

"Great. We need JAG involved and let us have him transferred back to the states," said Tony, who for the first time in hours stood in an air-conditioned space. His clothes were stuck to him.

"The DC Team is here," she said.

"Why aren't they in the apartments you set up for them?" he asked not hiding his annoyance.

"They wanted to wait for you to arrive," she said.

Tony glared at her.

"Have you ever tried to argue with Agent Gibbs?" she asked.

Suddenly, he felt sorry for her. It could be daunting arguing with Gibbs.

"Okay, where are they?" he asked.

"In the squad room," she said.

"See if Dr. Chang is here. I need her to look at my arm," he said.

"Yes, Director," she said and hustled off to autopsy.

Tony headed for the elevator with Hank and Mike. They got on the elevator and Tony pressed third floor.

"This your old team, boss?" asked Mike.

"Yeah," Tony answered.

"Hard feeling?" asked Hank.

"Some," answered Tony.

The door opened and Tony immediately saw Ziva seated at an empty desk. Her hair was down and eyes closed. When she heard the elevator open, she opened her eyes to stare into Tony's eyes. For a moment they stared then Tony broke it off and saw Stan and McGee sitting and talking. Abby was seated by herself looking bored and Gibbs was his usual stoic self as he sat in a chair and napped.

"Tony!" Abby yelled, as she got up and came running to him.

She was about to hug him when he stopped her with a raised hand.

"I'm soaked through my clothes, Abs, and it's sweat not water," he said.

"And you've been shot," she said.

Gibbs opened his eyes. He looked over at Tony, while Stan and McGee ended their conversation.

"Tony, what happened?" Abby said.

"Busting a white slave ring," he said.

"I could fill you in if you want details," offered Mike.

Abby looked at him with distrust.

"Abby Scuito, this is Agent Mike James and Agent Hank Thornson. They are my bodyguards," he said.

"Tony, why do you need bodyguards?" she asked.

"Because I'm assistant director, Abby," he said. "Believe it or not Vance is supposed to have a bodyguard or two. Plus, I go in the field a lot."

"Too much," added Hank.

Tony glanced at him with a warning look.

"Assistant Director DiNozzo, my team and I are here," said Gibbs as he approached Tony.

"No shit," said Tony.

Gibbs looked like he was going to retort but he stopped himself. The elevator opened and Dr. Chang with her medical bag along with SAC Morimoto got off the elevator.

"Where is he?" she asked.

"He's right here," Hank said and moved out of the way so she could see him.

"Don't you believe in drawn other person's blood and not your own?" she asked him.

"It's a graze," he said.

"Sit," she said.

Tony sat on the edge of a desk as Chang unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it away from the wound. He looked and saw Morimoto.

"Listen, it is late and you people must be tired. SAC Morimoto will show you to where you'll be staying and get you settled in. I'll talk to you in the morning, Agent Gibbs," Tony said.

"I'd like the files on the case," Gibbs said.

"Linda, show them to the boxes then take them to their apartments," he said then looked at Abby. "You are with me."

She smiled and he returned the smile in kind.

Chang finished cleaning the wound: "You need stitches."

"Go ahead," he sighed. "How many?"

"No more than five," she said.

Ziva stood up and looked over the doctor's shoulder at the wound. She didn't know why, but suddenly wished she was in Abby's position going back to Tony's place. Again, she looked it his eyes. This time instead of surprise, she saw tiredness and pain. She decided not to say anything. There was too much they needed to talk about, most of it painful, and now was not the time to even attempt a simply hello. She followed the team as Morimoto led them away.

"I'm so glad to see you, Tony," Abby said.

"Me, too, Abs," he said.

NCIS

Later that night in his apartment, it only took him seconds to fall asleep and what seemed like minutes to slip into a nightmare. He was screaming in his nightmare, as he was trapped in a box, when suddenly he was awakened by a body lying beside him and caressing his hair. He woke up to find Abby in bed with him.

"You had a nightmare," she said.

"Yeah, I have those sometimes," he said.

"Okay, scoot over. I'll be your Abby pillow tonight, but if you have a morning erection you better point it away from me," she said with a smile.

"I will," Tony said then he moved over and opened his arms and Abby spooned with him.

For the first time in a long time, Tony felt like he wanted to sleep for six or eight hours not his usual three. He missed his sister surrogate. Settling comfortably in with Abby, he drifted off.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

In the morning, he called Morimoto and told her to brief and take care of Gibbs' Team. Right after that, he called Hank and told him he'd be in late. After that, he returned to bed and rejoined Abby. They slept for another four hours then he showered and dressed. Before going to work, he took Abby for brunch in Holland Village. They sat outside under the awning.

"Tony, where are your movies?" Abby asked.

Abby had French toast with strawberries and a Red bull, while Tony had egg benedict with lox instead of bacon and a coffee.

"There were a few in the apartment," he answered.

"Tony, what I saw wasn't a Tony DiNozzo movie collection. Where are they?" she asked.

"In storage in DC, along with a few other things. I don't really have time for them anymore," he said.

"No, no, no, no, that is wrong. You can't let the bastards win, Tony. You can't change just because of what happened. You are stronger than that," Abby lectured him.

Tiny smiled. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a young local boy about ten or eleven swipe a wallet out of some expats purse, as he walked by. The kid walked by Tony, when he hand shot out and grabbed the kids' arm.

"Put the wallet back," Tony said.

"Again?" the kid said.

"I saw you steal the wallet. Put it back," he said.

"Again, Mister?" the kid said again.

"I saw you, so don't act the blur," Tony warned him.

He showed the kid his badge.

"Okay, okay, I'll put it back," he said.

"I have a gun. If you run, I'll just shoot you," Tony warned the kid.

"Tony!" Abby interjected.

He looked at her and winked.

"Okay, big bad _mata_, I'll put it back," he said.

Tony let go and watched as the kid walked over to the woman and gave her wallet then ran off.

"Okay, what is act the blur?" she asked.

"Play innocent. It's Singlish, Singapore English," he told her.

"You really have gone native," Abby said.

"Just doing my job, Abby," Tony said. "You know that it's almost two years since I've been gone."

"You're not coming home, are you?" Abby asked.

"I'm still crazy about her, Abby, in some ways. I don't want to go back," Tony said.

"Ziva?" she said in surprise.

"Duh," he said and rolled his eyes, which made Abby giggle.

This was the old Tony, her best friend and brother.

"Tony, I'm sorry," she said.

"Nothing to be sorry about Abby. I fucked up. I killed the man she loved, goaded her father, drove her to stay in Israel, and she ended up tortured and abused for four months. She can blame me for whatever she wants. I deserve it. But, I'm done paying for it. I've done well here for myself and I'm staying here unless Vance has some other challenge for me," he told her.

"Tony, Gibbs shouldn't have let you go and you should stop blaming yourself for everything," she said.

"He made his choice, Abby," he said with a smirk, "and it wasn't me. I don't blame him, but he's not my boss anymore and never will be."

NCIS

After dropping Abby in Morimoto's lap, Tony headed to his office. A pile of backup paperwork, request forms, and reports were on his desk. After telling his secretary Janet Yam that he didn't want to be disturbed, he got to work trying to make the piles go away. By seven in the evening, he was ready to talk to Vance in MTAC.

Exiting he office, he past the squad room. A section of desks was freed up for Gibbs' Team. He saw McGee and Burley hard at work, but no Ziva or Gibbs. _They must be working as a team in the field._ Morimoto was working with them, also. He placed his eye for the scanner to read then entered MTAC. Once he walked down the aisle and past the three row of stead. Standing in from the plasma screen, Tony waited for Vance. Suddenly, the image of a happy Vance appeared.

"Congratulations, Tony. You have either damaged or destroyed that white slave ring," Vance said.

"Thank you, sir," Tony replied. "Master Chief Petty Officer is on his way to you."

"Where he will be prosecuted to the full extent of the Uniform Code of Military Conduct," said Vance. "How is the smuggling problem coming?"

"I have to fly out to Sydney on Saturday to see the agent. Our undercover man spooked his handlers with a red flag. They don't know whether to pull the plug or not. I need a face to face with him," Tony explained.

"Understood. The agent's life is the most important thing here. Pull the plug if you think you need to," he said. "Oh, and, Tony, let Gibbs and his people work the serial killer case without interference for a while. Gibbs works best with a long leash, just yank on it occasional to remind him he isn't the final word on all things."

"I will, Leon," said Tony.

NCIS

Tony took British Air from Singapore to Sydney without Hank or Mike. Even though they fought with him, he overruled them sighting that he needed some time alone. He arranged to meet Royal Botanic Gardens at three in the afternoon. Agent Philip North was undercover as a potential distributor for the heroin. After checking into the Sheraton at the Park on Elizabeth Street, he took a cab to the Botanic Gardens. Since he was early, he decided to stroll along the pond and gardens. This was going to be a quick overnight stay and back to Singapore to deal with Gibbs and the Scooby Gang.

The meet was schedule near the pyramid glasshouse. He started walking towards the pyramid noticing the bushes, which were trimmed into some word or other that he could be bothered to read.

He stopped as he noticed an attractive sandy haired woman with grey eyes. She was dressed in tight jeans and a white tee shirt, which showed off her devastating built. He smiled at her and she returned the smile and started walking towards him.

"Hello," she said in a familiar accent. "Are you from here?"

She sounded like Ziva when she first came to the US.

"You're Israeli," Tony said.

"I know Director DiNozzo," she said then smiled at him.

He didn't like the smile now. It was the same smug smile Ziva had when she first started at NCIS and she thought she was superior to him. Immediately, Tony felt a presence behind him. He started to turn, when he felt the pinch of the needle in his neck. Within seconds, the world turned grey then black.

NCIS

When Gibbs and his team got to work on Monday morning, the tension in the air was noticeable. SAC Morimoto looked apoplectic, as she barked orders. Gibbs waved over Agent Thornson.

"What's happening, marine?" Gibbs asked him.

"Director DiNozzo has disappeared," he answered.

Ziva perked up immediately. Her instincts kicked into overdrive: Tony was in trouble. Regardless of how she felt for him, which was fairly complex and convoluted, she owed him for being behind the Somalia op that rescued her.

"Disappeared? What do you mean disappeared?" she growled, as she stood up from her temporary desk.

Stan and McGee watched her and waited.

"He checked into the hotel, but never showed up for the meeting. We are trying to trace his footsteps. Chances are he was kidnapped," said Hank.

"Wherein the hell were you when this happened?" demanded Ziva.

"Following orders and giving him alone time, Agent," growled Hank. "He's been a little stressed out since you people arrived."

Ziva started to move towards the larger man. Stan got himself in front of her while McGee stood beside her and whispered: "Calm down."

Thornson looked like he wanted to bite a few heads off. He moved towards Stan to get to Ziva.

"Stand down, marine," barked Gibbs in his best Gunny voice.

Hanks looked at Gibbs, took a deep breath, and nodded.

"We have to find him," Ziva stated.

"Not our job, Ziver," exhaled Gibbs. "But let me talk to Morimoto and Vance."

Gibbs walked away and headed towards MTAC. Finding DiNozzo wasn't his job anymore, but that didn't mean he couldn't stick his nose in where it didn't belong.

NCIS

Tony woke up in a grey room in a single bed. He had a dull ache in the temples. He sat up and he was still wearing the same close he wore at the gardens. The door to the room opened and the woman he had seen before walked in. She was wearing cargo pants and a black safari shirt. The first thing that came to Tony's mind was Mossad.

"I am Officer Liat Tuvia…," she started.

"Yeah, yeah, Mossad. What the fuck does Deputy David want from me that he couldn't go through official channels?" he growled.

"He will tell you himself," she said. "Follow me."

Tony got up. The dull ache grew to a pounding pain. Liat tossed him a bottle of water.

"Hydrate and your headache will go away," she advised him.

He cracked open the bottle top and downed half the bottle, took a breath, then down the rest of the bottle. Tossing the empty bottle on to the bed, he followed her.

They walked down a long hallway to an elevator. Getting in Liat pressed the button for the second floor. Tony guessed that they were in a basement or subbasement. Once off the elevator, he followed her to another grey room. This one was similar to the one Eli David interrogated him in when he was last in Tel Aviv. He sat down on a hardwood chair. The door opened and the monolithic Eli David entered the room. He smiled at Tony.

"You could have called. I would have answered the phone," said Tony.

"No, you wouldn't have," said Eli. "I know as well as you do that you would have refused any calls or invitations I made to you. Our history isn't a pleasant one."

"Now, why is that? I'm always treated so well when I'm here," spat Tony.

Eli sat down across from him. They stared at each across a table.

"Ziva hates me and from I heard she blamed you for her capture," Eli said.

"Yeah, well, now that we are caught up on old times, why did you kidnap me?" asked Tony.

"I need to talk to you, Assistant Director DiNozzo, and I needed you to listen to me. You are running an op to infiltrate and shutdown a heroin smuggling ring. From what I can tell you are getting close to gaining information in order to shut it down. This has to stop," he said.

"Why, because you say so?" Tony said.

He internally sighed at how petulant he sounded. Maybe, Deputy Director David was right and he ended to kidnap me to get my attention. His resentment towards this man was fairly deep.

"Because I have a man undercover and he is closer to the source then your main will ever get. He is so close that he almost is in touch with the Afghani terrorists behind this, terrorists who finance their hatred with drug money. If we are allowed to continue unimpeded we will have brought the heroin smugglers and terrorists by January," he said.

"You could have sent me a letter with this information. I might have read it," Tony joked.

"Trust is a problem between you and I. I brought you here, to relay information, and share a meal then send you home. I will Liat get you a cellphone so you can let your people know that you are fine," Eli stood up. "Over dinner tonight, I have other matters to discuss with you. Again, Liat is to provide you with whatever you need."

Eli left. Tony sat back in the chair and sighed. Whatever Eli was going to discuss with him over dinner was the real reason he was snatched.

NCIS

Linda Morimoto sat in Tony's office wishing the hell she knew where her boss was. Although when he first came here and was promoted so quickly, she was resentful of DiNozzo, she had come to genuinely like the man. He protected his agents the best he could. It was a characteristic she didn't expect from him when she looked into his background. He was supposed to be a womanizer and frat boy. Much to her surprise he turned out to be neither.

Her smartphone rang.

"Morimoto," she answered it.

"_Linda, it's me_," he said.

"Safe word," she replied.

"_Thunderball_," he answered.

"Tony… I mean, director, where are you?" she asked.

"_Doesn't matter. I'm safe and will be back in a day or two. I need you to do two things. First off, pull the plug on smugglers op. Have the agent pulled quietly and without too much notice. Next, let Vance know and tell him I'll explain when I get back. Can you do that for me, Linda_?" he asked.

She liked being called Linda by him. Yeah, she liked him. He was a great Assistant Director to work under.

"I can do that, Director," she said. "Anything else?"

"_Let Abby know I'm alright and I'll watch a movie with her when I get back_," he said.

"Can I join you?" she said without thinking then regretted it.

"_Sure. We'll make a party of it. I know Hank and Mike will want in on it, too_," he said. "_See you in a few_."

He hung up and Linda sighed in relief.

NCIS

A change of clothes was provided for Tony, as well as a chance to shower. He was then allowed a breath of fresh air in the Mossad secure compound yard. As he walked around in the non-humid heat of Israel, he noticed Liat enjoying a cigarette along with a couple of other agents. Instead of approaching her, he stood off by himself and lifted his fact to the sun.

"You are invited to Director David's apartment tonight for dinner. I am to bring you," Liat said.

Tony brought his head down and looked at her. Where all Mossad ninja stealthy?

"I guess I should expect a good kosher meal," he said.

"Do you like to eat kosher?" she smirked.

"On occasion," he smiled.

"Maybe, before I leave I can offer you a private meal," she smiled.

"Maybe," he replied.

"Maybe," she repeated and walked away.

NCIS

Beside a family home in Haifa, Eli David kept an apartment in Tel Aviv. Liat had left him off then disappeared. Tony surprised to find a large place, three bedroom, and homey. As he stood in the living room looking about he saw framed photos of the David family. He was struck at how most of the family was dead: Ari, Ziva's sister Tali, and her mother. It was just Eli and Ziva left, along with cousins and her aunt.

Eli came into the living room doorway and cleared his throat. Tony turned and looked at him.

"Dinner is served," he said.

Tony followed him into the dining room.

"We are going to have a Middle Eastern dinner: Israeli salad, Hummus, flat bread, chicken shishlik and for dessert a cheese cake.

"So, Director David…," Tony stared to speak.

"Let's forgo the director titles right now. I am Eli and you are Tony," Eli said.

"Okay. Eli, why am I here?" asked Tony.

A man came out and served them a red wine.

"I prefer red wine," Eli said.

"Fine with me," Tony said.

Eli waited until the food was served before he informed Tony why he had been brought there.

"The information about the smugglers was important but this information is vital. It is a matter of life and death," said Eli as he enjoyed his meal.

Tony listened, as he picked at his food.

"Aaron Rivkin is one of my better deep cover assassins. He has gone rogue and I believe he intends to kill Ziva and you for the death of his cousin Michael," Eli said.

"Do you have any agents that don't go rogue?" sighed Tony.

Eli chuckled.

"Aaron assumed you would be killed by Ziva. He expected it. And when never happened and she turned her back on Mossad and Israel, his hatred for you spread to her. Now, he wants you both dead. I am sending Officer Tuvia back to Singapore with you as a liaison officer. Her duty will be to protect you. As for Ziva, I know once you have informed Agent Gibbs about her situation, he will guard her life until we find Aaron and deal with him. I will talk to Leon about this. He will understand," said Eli.

"How good is this Aaron Rivkin?" asked Tony.

"I have sent him to Iran to kill a scientist. He did it without be detected and was back in Israel before they knew the scientist was dead," said Eli.

"Okay, maybe the better question is: how good is Officer Liat?" asked Tony.

"Only my Ziva is better," he smiled.

Tony looked at his food and lost his appetite.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

After being flown home in Mossad's Gulfstream, Tony walked into the NCIS Singapore building with Liat in tow. As he strode through the squad room, agents looked up and smiled. Their director was back sound and happy. Gibbs shook his head with a smile, though his eyes were trained on the woman, who trailed DiNozzo. He looked over at Ziva, who seemed to be drilling holes in the back of Liat's head.

"She is Mossad, Gibbs," she said without looking at him.

"How do you know?" asked Gibbs.

"I just know," Ziva answered.

Linda Morimoto almost gave Tony a hug when he walked into the office. She had grown used having him around to make all the big decision.

"Where have you been?" she asked.

"Long story, Linda. I'll tell you over a stiff drink someday," he replied.

Tony walked over to his desk and sat down. He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. There was a lot to do and he needed to get started.

"Did you abort the op?" he asked her.

"Done," she said.

He knew there were some things he needed to jump right into and get done.

"Linda, get me Agent Gibbs and Agent David and send them in here," he said.

"I'll get them, Director," she said with a big smile then left the room.

Liat walked over to the sofa in the office and sat down. Tony noticed that she seemed to have a perpetual smirk on her face. He was starting to wonder how to remove it, when Gibbs and Ziva came into the office. He motioned them to sit in the chairs in front of his desk. As she walked by Ziva glared at Liat, who ignored her.

"Director," smirked Gibbs.

He was glad to see that DiNozzo was fine, but he didn't want a return of his insecurities so he'd stick with tough love until he had a chance to really talk to him. The time wasn't right now.

"Director DiNozzo," Ziva said softly.

"Give me an update on the serial killer investigation," he said.

"McGee has been running a program he wrote based on flights and flyer manifests to see if we can pinpoint one or more travelers traveling to each locale before the time of the murders," Gibbs said.

Tony's mind started to kick in. Why hadn't he thought of it before because it made complete sense?

"Instead of public airlines or military flights, you should check private flights. What if our murderer has the deep pockets to own or charter a private plane," he proposed. "We are assuming military or related to the military because the victims are military. What if they are killing navy personnel for some reason like they had _McHale's Navy_ growing up, but they are actually independent of the Navy."

Gibbs smiled. It was classic DiNozzo. He was thinking out of the box, which could lead to a break in the case.

"I'll have McGee start working on it," Gibbs said.

"We also have found a blurry security image of a woman, who might be the bait," said Ziva. "Abby is trying to clean up the image as well as running recognition software."

"Well, you are making progress," he sighed. "Here comes the hard topic. Agent David…"

Ziva stomach twisted a little at the way he said Agent David.

"…, do you know a Aaron Rivkin?" Tony asked.

"Yes. He is Michael's cousin. He is also Mossad. I had worked with him in the past," she said.

She saw from the expression on Tony's face that he was saddened by Michael's name being mentioned. Michael Rivkin had cost Tony more than he'd like to think of. He had cost him Ziva and his adopted family. A mask of calm replaced the sadness. Ziva was reminded how many masks he had to hide behind.

"According to Deputy Director David, he has gone rogue and he wants you and me dead because of Michael Rivkin's death," Tony announced.

"Is that why she is here?" asked Ziva without turning and looking at Liat.

"Officer Tuvia is our Mossad liaison, Agent David. You know what the role can mean, don't you?" he said.

"Is she here to protect you or to kill Rivkin?" asked Ziva.

"Yes," Liat answered with a smile.

Suddenly, it became a staring contest between Liat and Ziva. Gibbs decided to let DiNozzo handle it.

"I don't want you two taking each other's measure right now in my office. Liat, why don't you find SAC Morimoto and have her get you an apartment to stay in," Tony said.

"Don't you have an extra bedroom?" Liat asked.

"I do but someone is in it at the moment," Tony answered.

"I can stay in your bed then," she laughed then she exited.

Ziva looked as if she wanted to get up and go after her, but she controlled herself.

"Agent Gibbs, if you need more men, I'll assign them. It's up to you to protect Agent David," Tony said.

"My team can handle it," said Gibbs.

"I don't need protection. I am capable of protecting myself," Ziva said.

Tony looked directly into her eyes and let his mask drop. He was concerned for her and she knew it. It felt good to have Tony concerned for her again.

"You can have Hank and Mike, if you need them. Anything you need you can have to protect her," he said to Gibbs while staring at Ziva.

She couldn't speak. She didn't want to speak.

"I'll let you know, DiNozzo," Gibbs said.

Hearing his name coming from Gibbs in a tone that was cold, angry or distant drew Tony back to earth. He broke eye contact with Ziva and looked at Gibbs.

"Don't try and play hero, Gibbs on this one. I've been told that he is one of Mossad's top assassins. I don't know about you, but that scares me. If you need the men, let me know," he said.

"I will," Gibbs nodded.

"Okay, I have to speak to Director Vance, so you two can get back to work," he said.

They exited the office leaving Tony alone. He sat there and just stared at his desktop not really wanting to talk to anyone or do any work.

NCIS

Aaron Rivkin never thought it would have to go this far. It was a travesty and needed to be fixed. Once Special Agent DiNozzo had killed his cousin, an act he still understand how it could happen as even drunk Michael was a killer, his life should have been forfeit. By the rules they lived in the Mossad, the man should have been killed by Ziva David since she was seeing Michael and was the only other Mossad officer in the area, and if she failed, Director David should have assigned someone else to do it, someone from the Kidon unit just like Michael. Yet, it never happened.

When it never happened, when Michael was never avenged by anyone, it finally became his duty to perform the task. He had done his duty for Israel, but now he had to do his duty for his family and his cousin. This DiNozzo must die and die slowly if possible, as well as Ziva David must die. He needed to die for his killing Michael, his family, and she needed to die because she failed Michael in so many ways. This was why he was now in Singapore.

Of course, what bothered him most was the fact that he was now being hunted by Mossad. He was the enemy. It made no sense, but he would deal with. If need be after he killed DiNozzo and David, he'd turn himself in to Mossad. But that will only happen after he succeeded in his task.

He decided on the Geyland section of Singapore to hide in. Here he could hide in plain sight until he was ready to make his move. Soon, he'd take out DiNozzo then David. Michael would be able to rest in peace after his work was done here.

NCIS

"Ziva, we are changing sleeping arrangements for now. You will be stay in the spare bedroom in the apartment they got for me," Gibbs said. "I want to keep an eye on you."

"But, Gibbs, I can take care of myself. I have the same training as Aaron. I know how he works," she said.

"Ziva, you haven't done that sort work in a long time, Ziver. You aren't a killer anymore, which gives him the advantage. One hesitation and you are dead," said Gibbs. "We are going to protect you and you are going to listen to me."

"And, Tony? Are you going to just let this Liat protect him?" she asked.

"It appears that he is going to let her protect him, Ziva," said Gibbs. "I can no longer tell DiNozzo what to do or how to act. I can't protect his six without his permission. I gave that honor up the day I chose protecting you over him."

Ziva felt like she had been slapped across the face. Suddenly, she was reminded of the time right after Somalia where for days, weeks, months she needed someone to hate, to blame, to lash out against. She had chosen Tony for so many different and conflicting reasons. Over time she grew to understand that, he wasn't to blame, but that didn't change how conflicted she was over how she now felt about Tony.

She didn't defend herself or lash out now against Gibbs' words because she deserved it. After Somalia, she hated Tony and that was a burden on Gibbs in the end. Yes, it was irrational, and, yes, it left Gibbs with little room to maneuver. He chose to protect her, who desperately needed her, rather than keep Tony close to him, to keep his surrogate son around him. After losing Shannon and Kelly, the death of Kate, and what happened with Jenny, he couldn't afford to let another woman he cared for, be hurt without doing whatever could be done to protect them. Ziva had become like a daughter to him, just like Abby, which meant he had to protect her.

Ziva now felt guilty over making him choose between them. There had to be a better solution, although at the time her hatred for him was deep and looked as if it would never go away. Yet, it did. And, then she remembered how she really felt about Tony and her life became even more complicated and guilt-ridden. Now, she wasn't even sure how to approach him to talk to him, but she knew she needed to do it.

"I will do as you say, Gibbs. I owe you that much and more," she said.

"This isn't about owing, Ziva. It's about family," Gibbs said.

"Tony was once part of our family," she said.

"He still is, but he just doesn't know it," Gibbs told her.

"I miss him, Gibbs," she admitted to him.

"I know, Ziva. When this is over I intend to apologize to him," he said.

"Rule number six," she smiled.

"Rule number fifty-one," he replied.

"I thought you were never wrong, Gibbs," Ziva smiled.

"Don't test me, Agent David," he smirked.

NCIS

When Tony got home Abby was there with Hank and Mike, who were in casual clothes. She had ordered Thai food. It was movie night. Abby took a look at Liat and he could see annoyance.

"Abby Scuito, this is Liat Tuvia, Mossad Liaison and another addition to my growing bodyguard ranks," Tony said.

"I am supposed to keep a rogue Mossad agent from killing him," she smiled.

Abby's face turned into a giant Oh, which made Tony laugh. Hank looked annoyed, but Tony could see that Mike already was wondering how to approach Liat with a proposition.

"Okay, what are we watching?" asked Tony.

"_The Searchers_ and _Tombstone_," Abby said then she looked at Hank and Mike. "They picked."

"Well, good picks," he said then he looked at Mike and Hank. "Did you bring beer?"

"A case of Tiger Beer in the refrigerator," he said.

Tony turned and looked at Liat.

"Do you mind a couple of movies, beer, and Thai food?" asked Tony.

"I'd like that. We do not have movie nights in the Mossad," she said.

"If you did I bet you wouldn't watch spy films. It would be boring spies watching spies," said Mike.

Liat looked at him as if he was an insect that had just impacted on her car windshield. Hank and Abby starting laughing, as Mike turned a deep shape of red.

"Looks like spies aren't in you zone, Mike," said Tony.

"I prefer men to boys," sniffed Liat.

Hank started to laugh so hard that he started coughing.

"I need a beer," said Mike.

"I'll get you one," said Tony then he nodded towards the living room. "Make yourself comfortable, Liat. You want a beer?"

"Sure," she smiled then walked over to an armchair and sat down.

A million dollar smile took over Tony's face. This was his first movie night in two years. I felt good. Yeah, he had changed, but maybe there was still a chance not to become a Gibbs' clone, except living in Singapore.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

It was a long day the office. Tony had finally caught up on paperwork and had been told that Gibbs' Team was getting some good leads in terms of the private plane. He decided to take Vance's advice and let them have their head for a while. By seven o'clock, he let Hank and Mike know that he was going to Durty Nelly's for food and drink. Abby was needed by Gibbs to help McGee with some computer work. He didn't have to let Liat know because she spent most of the day in his office reading magazines and sighing out of boredom.

Durty Nelly's was located on 6 Raffles Blvd in Marina Square. It was a classy Irish pub with an orange and blue façade and an interior with that was less Irish pub and more classy tavern. Tony decided to sit at the bar on a red velvet stool was a backrest. While Tony ordered a Guinness with an upscale version of bangers and mash; Liat had the fish and chips; Hank ordered the Satay sticks; and Mike a cheeseburger. Tony had to admit that Singapore would have been a great place to have ended up after college, when all he wanted to do was whore, drink, and a get involved in police work.

Nursing his Guinness, Tony let his mind get lost in thought. On the TV there was a European football match playing, which held no interest for him. He was strictly American football and basketball with the occasional interest in baseball and hockey. Tony had to admit that he was very much an American when it came to sports. Last year he had a Superbowl breakfast for him and some of his agents starting at three in the morning. He missed sitting in a bar watching football or college basketball with some friends. If he was going to be completely honest, he missed DC. It had become more of a home to him than Long Island., Ohio, Peoria, Philly, or Baltimore.

"I like this," said Liat as she drank her pint of Guinness.

"Don't drink too many or Agent James might try to take advantage of you," he said.

"You won't take advantage of me?" she asked him.

"No," he said with a smile. "I've had enough of ninjas in my life to know how painful that can be."

"Ninja?" she asked.

"Mossad assassins," he said clarifying it for her.

"You don't like Mossad," she said.

"I don't trust Mossad," he corrected her. "And I have some issues with Mossad ninja assassins."

"I see," said Liat, as she drank more of the Guinness.

The bartender brought over his bangers and mash and Liat's fish and chips and put them down.

NCIS

The club worker went to dump the garbage in the dumpster behind the Harry's. It was three in the morning and he was wanting to go home, get a couple of hours of sleep, and see his son come home from school. He hated work the nightshift because he saw so little of his family. As he carried the container filled with some of the worst smelling things in the world to the dumpster, he saw two legs sticking out from behind the dumpster. Curiosity got the best of him so he walked over to where this body was to look at it. It didn't take him long to wish he hadn't.

He dropped the container and swore: "What the fish, man!"

NCIS

Tony looked at his smartphone, as it rang and rang on the end table beside his bed. A good heavy meal and a few too many Guinness stouts meant he'd get four or five hours of sleep, if he wasn't disturbed. So much for sleep. He picked it up.

"DiNozzo," he answered.

"_We have another body_," said Gibbs.

"Where am I going?" he asked.

NCIS

The Civic District was filled with chic bars, elegant restaurants, expensive clubs, and top end restaurants, and Harry's was one of those clubs. It was too expensive a club for most LT Commanders. Hank pulled up in the Accord and Tony and Liat got out of the back. It was four in the morning, hot and sticky. Tony was in jeans and pink linen dress shirt, which was already starting to stick to him, as the alcohol left his system. He walked up to the body and stared at it, while Stan collected evidence and Ziva took pictures then he noticed McGee interviewing a club employee.

Tony walked over to McGee and listened in on the interview.

"I never seen anything like that before. Damn frus, man," said Tony Tam.

"Yeah, not a pretty sight of him," McGee said.

"Yeah," he said.

"You see Commander Toliver before?" asked McGee.

"I talk than tan boh lui," he said.

"Uh?" McGee replied.

"It means if he talks that he earns no money," said Tony.

"Oh," McGee looked at Tony.

"What's your name?" asked Tony.

"Tony Tam," he answered.

"Tony, I'm Tony, too," Tony said.

Tony pulled his business card out and handed it to him.

"If your boss fires you for talking to us then you come to the address on the business card and I'll get you a job," he said.

"Ah, shappup," Tam laughed. "You all fart and no shit."

"No, sian tao! You come in tomorrow and we get you that job then you talk to my friend here. How does that sound?" said Tony.

"Okay, man, I come. You no bullshit me, right?" said Tam.

"Right. Good job," Tony shook his hand then walked in to the club through the backdoor.

Ziva walked up to McGee as Tony walked away.

"Still think he doesn't deserve his promotion, McGee?" she asked him.

"I never said that," he said.

"Okay, McGee," she smiled and walked into the club after him.

Gibbs was in the process of interviewing the club manager when Tony walked up beside him. He knew the type the club manager was. He could speak posh if he wanted or he could speak Singlish. It all mattered what worked best for him.

"Did you see Commander Toliver in your club at all tonight?" he asked.

"He could have been here, but I don't pay much attention to people unless they are important. Sailors aren't important," said the manager.

He could see Gibbs started to get angry. The comment was a jab and it stung. If Gibbs pushed too hard then everyone would close up, especially the manager.

"Hey, don't sweat him," Tony said to the manager. "He is dungu."

The manager laughed then he gave his attention over to Tony.

"You don't remember him, but you remember who he was with?" asked Tony.

"Oh, she was a hot number in a tight short grey dress and blond hair. I damned steam her," the manager said.

"She was a hot number, huh?" said Tony with a smile and the manager chuckled and nodded his head yes. "Flush?"

"She was not hard up for money, man," he said.

"Did she use a credit card?" Tony asked.

"Nay strictly cash and plenty of it," he said.

"We get a picture of her from your security cameras?" asked Tony.

"Be my guest," said the manager.

Tony looked at Gibbs, who had a smirk on his face. Gibbs looked over at Ziva.

"Check the security camera. You are looking for Toliver with a blond in a tight grey dress," he said.

"Yes, Gibbs," she replied.

Gibbs then looked at Tony.

"Just like Jenny you should have never left the field," he said to him. "It's were you belong."

"Oh, sure. Gee whiz thanks for the compliment," tony shrugged then walked away with Liat in tow.

Tony walked back out into the alleyway. Dr. Chang had shown up with her assistant and they were dealing with the body. Just then at the end of the alleyway, which the Singapore Police had blocked off, another Accord pulled up and parked. Agent James got of the car. He started down the alleyway towards Tony, Hank, and Liat, who stood back watching Dr. Chang do her work.

"Sorry, I'm late, boss. Call it a personal life thing," he said with a smile.

Mike got Tony, who faced him. He wasn't angry with him. Actually, he understood all too well how it felt to have an evening in the sack with a pretty woman interrupted with a call from Gibbs or one of this teammates for Gibbs. Of course, those days were over. He avoided relationships now. Their cost was just too high to pay.

"Don't sweat it, Mike," he said.

Just then, there was the sound of a crack in the air. Things suddenly slowed down for Tony. The front of Mike's chest exploded and his eyes grew large with pain then blank in a split second. Next, Tony felt the impact of a bullet in his shoulder. It had the kick of a mule and knocked him down on his ass in the alleyway.

Before he could move or even try to move, Liat dove on top of him. She had her Jericho out and was trying to search for the shooter, but Tony knew he'd be gone. This wasn't an attempt on his life; this was Rivkin playing with Tony. It was Aaron Rivkin's way of making his life a misery and it work damned well.

He turned his head to see Ziva and Gibbs burst out of the club with their Sig Sauers drawn. Ziva looked at him with Liat on top of him and at first she snarled but then she saw the dead body of Mike. Running over to Liat, she barked at her in Hebrew and Liat got of him. Ziva then checked his would. She found no exit wound, so she took her jacket off and started apply pressure to the wound.

"Doctor, you are needed here," Ziva barked.

Tony found himself staring into Ziva's chocolate eyes. He wanted to say something to her, but the words were all balled up inside of him. Dawn came over with her medkit. She gently removed Ziva's hands and windbreaker from the then started checking it.

"I believe the bullet was stopped by the shoulder blade," she said.

Tony still found himself staring at Ziva and she was staring at him.

"I'll call for a bus to Singapore General Hospital and I'll have some extra agents meet us there as backup security," growled Hank Thornson.

"Do it," Gibbs ordered.

Tony felt his eyes getting heavy suddenly. He tried to keep them open but it was useless. They were made of lead and they wanted to be closed, so they closed. He went to sleep.

NCIS

Singapore General was a 1500 bed hospital with a level one ER. They were waiting for Tony when he arrived and whisked him off to a surgical theatre. Once the bullet was removed and the damaged fixed, he was sent to post op ICU for several hours then was transferred to a private room, which was now guarded by two marines. No one was going in or out with proper ID or reason.

When Tony woke up, the pain was burning his shoulder. Before he could even complain, Hank placed in his right hand a lever to release morphine in small dosages for the pain. Tony pressed twice knowing the pain would go away but he'd be as goofy as a teen getting drunk the first time.

Hank spoke to him: "Bullet cracked your shoulder blade, boss. Your arm will be immobilized in a sling for three or four weeks."

"Mike. He's dead," Tony said.

"We know, boss," Hank said.

"Bastard killed him just to play with me, Hank," hissed Tony. "We have to go medieval on his ass, right?"

Hank almost wanted to smile at that comment because Mile would have loved it.

"Yeah, boss, we do," he said.

"Good, I'm glad we could agree on that," said Tony, who then saw Liat sitting in a chair looking like a sentinel.

Before he could say anything else, Hank's hand, enveloped Tony's and forced him to press for another dosage. He knew this would knock Tony out and the man needed to sleep. He needed to sleep and to heal.

"Shouldn't done that, Cochise," Tony said. "Don't want to go bye bye."

"You need your rest, boss," he said.

"No, need to find Mike's killer," said Tony.

He didn't hear Mike's answer because he was a couple steps down the yellow brick road. Tony gave into sleep, a deep sleep, too. Hank sat down and looked over at Liat.

"You don't have to stay," he said. "I'm here."

"It is my job," she said.

"Okay, stay," he sighed.

NCIS

Against doctors' orders, Tony signed himself out and asked Hank to bring him his black Armani suit. He dressed in the suit, as best as he could with a left arm which was immobilized by a sling. He didn't bother with a tie, as he was picked up by Liat and Hank and driven to Changi Air Base. The Republic of Singapore gave the US permission for a C-130 Hercules transport to land with an honor guard of marines to pick up Special Agent Michael James body to be flown home.

Tony arrived to see Gibbs and his Team were there, as well as most of the NCIS Singapore field office. Mike's casket awaited to be taken up by the marines and escorted into the transport plane. As he stood apart from everyone, except Hank and Liat, he searched for his sunglasses. He already was sweating up a storm from not having taken his pain meds and the fact it was ninety-five in the shade with 100 percent humidity. He found his sunglasses and put them on.

As the plane came to a stop and the back ramp came down so that the marine honor came marching down in their dress blues. Tony felt the tug of tears in his chest and the burn of them in his eyes. The marines came down and collected the casket then ceremonially draped an American flag on it and marched it into the Hercules.

"Medieval, Hank. Medieval on his ass," said Tony quietly.

"I'll be glad to help you, boss," said Hank.

Liat looked at Tony. He was pale and sweating. The man shouldn't have been there.

"We have to get you back to the hospital," she said.

"Once the plane has lifted off then I'll go," Tony said.

He looked over at his people. There was no way he was risking anymore of their lives protecting him. He'd already had a list of volunteers to replace Mike, but had refused them. Hank and Liat were enough now. This bastard Aaron Rivkin wasn't getting any more targets than that.

Ziva managed to catch his eye. She looked at him with concern, which surprised him. _Maybe she didn't hate me_, he thought, _any longer_. _But not hate and love were a long way away from each other_. He turned his head. It was painful right now to look at her. Her life was in danger also because of him. He killed Michael Rivkin not her. The blood was on his hands not hers. It was ridiculous that her life was in jeopardy because of him again.

The transport plane began to taxi away. He felt his legs starting to get weak. It was time to get back to the hospital. He was kind of looking forward to an IBV of saline solution.

"Let's go," he said.

"Okay, boss," Hank replied.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

After two more days in the hospital, Tony was released with the condition he take it easy. Instead of going home, He had Hank drive him to the office. Once he was settled at his desk, he asked Hank to get Gibbs for him.

"Shouldn't you be at home?" was the first thing Gibbs said as he came into the office.

"You ID the girl?" he asked ignoring the question.

Gibbs sat down and observed DiNozzo. He looked uncomfortable and was still pale. The man wasn't taking his pain meds.

"Janet McKearn was her name," he said.

"Was?" asked Tony.

"Found her yesterday floating in the Singapore River with two good sized holes in her head from a Glock 23. She was shot in the back of the head a point blank range leaving a good part of her forehead gone," Gibbs said.

"Tell me about her," said Tony.

"She was twenty-two year from Perth and old thrill seeker, who disappeared nine months ago from her family and friends. She left a note saying she found the right guy. No one wondered about her because she had done something like this before when she was eighteen. She was gone ten months before she returned when the guy paid her twenty grand and dropped her off at her parents' house. I sent McGee and Stan to Australia to track down her life and see if they can find an image somewhere of her and this guy she took off with," explained. Gibbs.

"He'll be looking for new bait. He won't stop killing," he said.

"We know two things: he has money and he's not attached to his bait," said Gibbs.

"Okay, what about the weapon that killed Mike?" he asked.

"Not my case," said Gibbs.

"Don't fuck with me, Gibbs. I know you are looking into it. You'd be a fool not to look into it in order to protect Ziva," Tony said.

"Barrett M82. .50 caliber. Shot was taken 1800 meters away," said Gibbs.

"Son of a bitch knows who our serial killer is," growled Tony.

Gibbs smiled: "Exactly."

"But how?" Tony said then his mind kicked into overdrive. "Someone in Mossad knows this murderer."

Gibbs smiled. Dinozzo was one of a kind. Gibbs stood up to leave.

"Take your pain meds, Director DiNozzo. You'll get well faster," he said.

"Thanks for the advice, Agent Gibbs," he said.

"Are you going to contact Deputy Director David?" asked Gibbs.

"Don't worry about it, Agent Gibbs. Let me know if you get anything from Australia," he said.

Gibbs smirked, turned, and left the office. Before he could ask for her, Liat entered his office.

"Aaron Rivkin knows who the serial murderer is. Can you explain that?" he asked her.

"The killer has had dealings with Mossad at some point, or to be specific the killer had dealings with Rivkin. He worked on his own mostly," she said.

"You withholding information from me, Liat?" he asked her.

"No. I am tasked with protecting you and killer Rivkin if I am able. There is probably a Kidon team in Singapore tracking him," she said.

"We better get to him first, so we can find out who the serial killer is," hissed Tony in pain, as he moved when he spoke.

Liat didn't wait for him to say anything. She took his pill bottle out of thigh pocket from her cargo pants. She took two pills and dropped them into his free right hand.

"Take them," she told him.

"I don't need them," Tony said.

"Take them or I will make you take them," she said.

Tony popped them in his mother and dried swallowed them. Liat sat back down looking triumphant.

"It's now your job to stop me from embarrassing myself. I don't do well on pain meds," Tony said.

"I guarantee you'll only embarrass yourself with me," she smiled.

Tony scowled at her. He'd have to wait a couple of hours now to talk to Eli David. The pain meds will need to be mostly out of his system.

NCIS

When Tony exited his office, SAC Morimoto and Ziva, who were now working together on the serial murderer case, noticed how close Liat styed to him. They headed off to MTAC.

"I don't like her," said Linda Morimoto.

"She cannot be trusted," said Ziva.

"You know her?" asked Linda.

"No, but I know her type in Mossad," she said. She had once been her type: deadly, manipulative, and always with the agenda to protect Mossad.

"I'm worried about Tony. He seems like nothing bothers him at time, but I know that everything bothers him. He takes personal responsibility for every muck up, even the ones that have nothing to do with him," said Linda.

"Do you like him?" asked Ziva.

"Sexual? The boat has passed. Several of have thrown ourselves at him and he hasn't ever bothered even to act complimented. When he needs to get his pipes cleans, he goes to the clubs, otherwise he is married to his job," she said.

That just wasn't her Tony, Ziva thought. _Her Tony? He isn't my Tony. I guess I can't live without you. _Yes, he had said those words to her, but that was long ago and all she managed to do with those words were hold them against him_. He is damaged, but aren't we all? _

"Do you like him?" asked Linda.

"We were once partners. It did not end well, even though I owe him my life," she admitted.

"Well, he'd hung up on someone and he can't let go of them. I wish he would," said Linda.

"He is a good man," said Ziva.

"Sounds like you were more than partners," Linda said.

"No. We were only partners. Gibbs has rules against teammates dating," she said.

"Tony has rules, not many, but he has rules. DiNozzo rule number: When one of people is in trouble, I don't stand on the sideline," she said then smiled.

"That sounds like Tony," said Ziva.

NCIS

In MTAC Tony waited for the hook up with Eli David. He wasn't sure which tact to take with the man: did he demand answers or should he cajole and charm? The image of Eli David came up. He looked at Tony with some concern.

"Aaron Rivkin's work," he said and motioned towards his sling, "I take it."

"Killed one of my men," Tony said.

"He is playing with you," Eli said.

_Fuck it. I don't have the time or inclination to charm this man. _

"This Rivkin knows who the hell the serial killer we are looking for is. How the fuck does he know who he is?" asked Tony.

"Do you think Mossad has something to do with this serial killer?" asked Eli.

"I'm not sure," said Tony. "You do seem to be involved in a lot of things you shouldn't be involved in."

Eli smiled.

"I protect Israeli as I see fit," he said.

"Does that include serial killers?" Tony asked.

"I do not employ serial killers," stated Eli.

"No, but you train them in some ways, don't you?" goaded Tony.

"Anthony, you have a limited understanding of what I do. Let me enhance your understanding of my job, I protect Israel. I do this by either stopping acts of terrorism against Israel, know more than our enemies know, or kill those who would kill citizens of Israel. I do this by any way I can," Eli explained.

"Including throwing your daughter to the wolves," snapped Tony.

"You still hold that against me," said Eli. "Good. It was a mistake. I didn't realize how much NCIS had softened her. There was a time I knew if I gave Ziva an order I could count on it be carried through in time and with great skill."

"How does Rivkin know who this serial killer is?" Tony demanded.

"Stay alive long enough, Anthony, and maybe I will have some answers for you," said Eli with a grin.

"I'm trying to stay alive," said Tony.

"Office Tuvia," said Eli.

"Yes, Director," she said.

"Keep him alive. He is growing on me," Eli said.

"Yes, sir," she said.

Eli disappeared. Tony stared at a blank screen. There had to be a way to deal with this and only put his life at risk.

NCIS

The two man hit team sat in their hotel room. They had ordered room service and once they sun was down they would go out hunting for Aaron Rivkin. One of the assassins looked through the peephole to see the service woman with a pushcart and their food. He opened the door and she started to push the food in. Before the assassin could close the door, Rivkin appeared in the doorway and shot him twice in the head with a Jericho with a suppressor on it.

The other assassin went to draw his gun, but Rivkin put two in his chest and two in his head. The poor service girl stared at him. He had already used her, but he couldn't risk her describing him. She stared at him and he fired once in the head. The poor girl fell dead to the ground. Aaron Rivkin took off leaving carnage behind him.

NCIS

Inspector Kuan just had a feeling that Director DiNozzo could shed some light on the deaths in the hotel in the Geyland section. When he called him NCIS, DiNozzo told him he'd be there right away.

Hank, Tony, and Liat showed up at the crime scene. Lee was staring at the body of the poor young girl. Tony looked over at Liat and saw that she recognized the men. He pulled her aside.

"You know them?" he asked.

"Kidon," she said.

"Rivkin's work?" he asked her.

"No doubt," Liat answered.

Tony's eyes drifted over to the poor girl.

"And her?" he asked.

"Collateral damage," she said.

"Collateral fucking damage. What is wrong with you? She is an innocent not collateral damage," he growled.

Lee noticed his reaction and was reminded why he liked DiNozzo so much. He strolled over to the pair.

"Do you want to tell me what I have here?" he asked.

"Yeah, Lee, I do. You have two Israeli Mossad agents who are here looking for a rogue agent and the rogue agent killed them," Tony told him.

"In other words, this is more your thing than mine, right? Or do I have to call in Internal Security Department. They are not so easy to deal with and might cause more trouble than they save," he said.

"I'll take this whole thing over, Lee. It will be the responsibility of NCIS. Does that sound good to you?" Tony asked him.

"It sounds excellent to me," Lee said. "The girl deserves some justice and I know you will get it for her, Tony."

"I will, Lee," he said then he looked at Hank. "Call in Chang and Gibbs' Team. Tell him he'll want to add this to his investigation."

"Sure, boss," Hank said then he walked into the hallway to make the call.

Tony looked at Liat. He was pissed, pissed at the idea of an innocent young girl being collateral damage, as if that made it all right. Yeah, he was pissed.

"Son of a bitch is going to pay for this," said Tony.

"I don't disagree," Liat said.

"Why aren't you pissed?" he asked.

"I am sad. They were good men," Liat said.

"But they deserved what they got. They were playing in this game, but she was not playing in it. She was… she didn't deserve what happened to her. Doesn't that anger you?" he asked.

"I didn't know her," she said. "I only have so much emotion in me and I can't waste in on strangers."

"Eli said that NCIS softened Ziva," he chuckled. "You know what I think it made her human and I'm glad about that."

"Good for her," smirked Liat.

NCIS

When Gibbs' Team showed up, they weren't surprised at what they had. As his team worked the scene, Gibbs pulled DiNozzo aside.

"I need you to stop put your neck out there," Gibbs told him.

"What I do with my neck is my business," Tony said.

"No. It's my business. When I chose Ziva over you, I was choosing someone who needed me over someone I know he could handle himself. I chose someone who was broken over someone I knew could handle whatever I threw at him because he was… he was the based damned agent I ever worked with. He was also my family. Ducky warned me to make my choice carefully, but I had to do it my way. Well, rule fifty-one…," Gibbs was saying and Tony cut him off.

"Rule Fifty one?" asked Tony.

"Yeah, sometimes I'm wrong," Gibbs sighed. "I wasn't wrong that you deserved your own team, Tony. You were ready for that. But I was wrong to help usher you away to make things easier on Ziva. Goddamn it, if you were there you'd probably have charmed her back into loving you over hating you eventually. But I did the wrong thing. I'm not asking for your forgiveness, but I am asking if you could just step back and make sure your six is protected."

"Gibbs," Tony stopped. He couldn't and didn't want to deal with this right now. "Agent Gibbs, do your duty and I'll do mine."

"And what is your duty?" asked Gibbs.

Tony smiled: "To kill Rivkin. I seem to have a thing about this family."

Tony turned and looked at Liat.

"Come on," he barked and then walked out. She followed him.

Gibbs ran his hand across his jaw in frustration that got back to work.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Dead Mossad hit team, dead service girl, dead bodyguard, and dead sailors and marines. The bodies were piling up and Tony was getting damned tired of it. Carefully, he took off his sling then removed his shirt, pants, underwear, and socks. He was exhausted from the process of getting undress. He ran a shower then stepped underneath the stream of water.

He didn't care of about his bandages or stitches. All he wanted was the warm water pelting his body and making the tension and pain go away. A little relief was all he was looking for.

"Tony, Tony," Abby yelled trying to get his attention.

He turned the shower off then he put his head against the tiles.

"What is it, Abs?" he asked.

"You not supposed to get the stitches and bandages wet, Tony. Get out of the shower now and let me check your stitches," she said.

He knew she was standing in the bathroom waiting for him to get out of shower to lecture him. Part of him was amused by her actions, while the Director part of him did not want to be lectured to by anyone, especially a friend.

"Tony, get out here now because I need to take care of your wound," she demanded.

"Okay, Abby, I'm coming," he said.

He opened the shower door and stepped out in all his naked glory. Standing there, he glared at Abby as her eyes naturally travelled down his body and stopped.

"Wow, Tony," she smiled.

He grabbed a towel then wrapped it around his waist. Exiting the bathroom, he grimaced his pain. Gravity, movement, and lack of time to heal caused a throbbing pain in right shoulder and arm.

"Get into you bedroom and I'll take care of the rest," Abby ordered.

"Sure, Abs," he said.

Grabbing another towel on the way out, she followed him into the bedroom. Sitting down on the bed, he moaned from the pain in his shoulder.

"You are the most stubborn man I know, maybe even worse than Gibbs," said Abby, as she started to work on his wound drying it and bandaging it. "You shouldn't do these things, Tony; you should think first."

"What if I did shower and I did think first?" he smiled.

"Tony, I expect you to treat yourself better. You should have taken a sponge bath. I know Liat would have given you one," she said.

"I really needed a shower, Abs," he said. "I don't want a sponge bath from Liat."

"There you go," she said finishing up taking care of his wound. "Now, get dressed, young man, and put your sling."

Since he was stuck with it, Tony decided to use his sling in a unique way. He put his backup piece in it, a Glock 22, nice and hidden and then slipped a throwing knife made of composite material in it right under his forearm. If he had to wear a damn sling then it might as well serve a purpose.

He came out of his bedroom and Abby was in conversation with Liat. From what he could overhear, they were talking about Ziva. He could tell that Abby forgave everyone, had not forgiven Ziva yet. She needed to forgive her. Liat on the other hand seemed to have a natural competitiveness with her. It made him want to turn around, go back into his bedroom, and hide.

Abby noticed him: "Hey, Tony, feeling better?"

"I feel fine, Abs," he said.

"You do not look fine," said Liat, who was seated on the sofa.

"Well, I am," he snarled.

Abby smartphone rang and skipped into the kitchen to answer it. Liat looked at him with a sort of I should have known expression.

"You and Director David's daughter have a history," she said.

"Don't be a pain in my ass. I have enough of those already," he growled.

NCIS

They finally had a lead. According the ownership of the plane his name was Carlton Hurst and he was known in the spy community as someone who sold information. Where he got the information, he never supplied, but if he sold it to you then it was good information. Now how a seller of top-secret information became a serial killer or why he became one was part of the puzzle they were still putting together.

"He's wealthy and he clever and when he wants to disappear, he knows how," said Gibbs.

"How did you track it back to him?" asked Tony.

"Private airplane," mumbled McGee.

Gibbs smiled. DiNozzo's idea was the way they picked up Hurst' scent. Ziva looked over at Tony and tried to catch his attention, but he was too busy staring at the photograph of Hurst being projected on TV screen.

"Do you have any idea where he is?" asked Tony.

"No. But we are in the process of searching for him," said Stan.

"We need to get a list of his pseudonyms," said Gibbs.

"His non de plume," said McGee.

"That pen name not his Also Known As," Tony said.

"I know that," hissed McGee.

Gibbs rolled his eyes. He looked over at Tony.

"I should… no, I shouldn't," sighed Tony. "Agent Gibbs, please, catch Vance up on the case. It seems he was right to send us his best."

He turned and walked away with Hank and Liat in tow. Gibbs shook his head realizing he still hadn't gotten through to DiNozzo. When this was over, he'd give it another try. Ziva walked up to Gibbs' temporary desk.

"Gibbs, I need to talk to him," Ziva said.

"When this is over," he said.

She thought about arguing with him, but decided not to right now.

NCIS

The call from Perth was routed to him. Tony picked up his phone.

"DiNozzo," he answered.

"Director, we are missing two marines who were on shore leave," said Agent Mann.

"How long?" he asked.

"Thirty-six hours," Mann said. "I have the Perth Police looking and we are looking, but I'm a little shorthanded with it being shore leave season. I was hoping for a TAD or two."

"How about a director, who is excellent at investigating crimes? I'll be there tomorrow SAC Mann," said Tony.

"I look forward to see you, Director," said Mann.

Tony hung up and looked at Liat, who was reading a magazine while sitting on the sofa.

"Up for a trip to Perth?" he asked her.

"Better than being bored," she sighed.

"Good. We fly out in the morning," he said.

NCIS

Perth, Australia was largest city of Western Australia. They checked into the Perth Ambassador Hotel. He took a single room for him and a double that Liat and Hank could share. Hank found a cart for their luggage, as Tony checked them in.

"I want my own room," pouted Liat.

"You said you're bored," said Tony.

"I should complain to Deputy Director David," Liat whined.

"Yeah, you should," Tony smiled.

The three of them got on the elevator together and took the elevator to the fifth floor. Tony opened his door with his card key and Hank grabbed his two bags and brought them in his room for him. Tony contemplated getting rid of his sling. It was more a hindrance then a help now.

The sound of a gun with a suppressor drew Tony attention in time to see Liat go down in the hallway.

"Hank!" he yelled.

When a man in a light grey suit came through the door and put one bullet in Hank's chest. The man kicked the door shut then he shot Tony in the upper thigh sending Tony down on one knee.

"We'll, we finally get to meet, Director DiNozzo," said Aaron Rivkin.

Staring at him Tony saw a family resemblance. He found himself hating the man.

"You're sober so you are not like Michael," he said through gritted teeth.

"I don't drink," Aaron walked over to him. He leaned down and took Tony's Sig Sauer and then he grabbed his backup piece in his sling. "I am trained to kill, so it was only a matter of time before I killed you."

"Good for you," Tony gritted.

"I want you to know that this is not personal. It is duty to my family," Aaron said.

Tony started to laugh. Aaron looked at him as if he was insane. He thought the man had lost his sanity at the end. He'd seen it happen before. Some weren't strong enough to face the end of their life with dignity.

"What is it with you fucking people? Don't you know how to use a contraction? Don't as in do not," Tony laughed.

"I'm glad you can laugh," Aaron said then started to raise his weapon.

As the weapon came up, Tony's right hand reached into his sling and grabbed the throwing knife. He made a quick throw at Aaron just as Aaron fired his weapon. The throwing knife was imbedded in his throat. He went to reach up to pull it out but collapsed to the floor. Tony looked down at his chest and saw a dark hole in his upper right chest. Slowly a field of blood started to spread soaking his white shirt. He smiled then fell face first to the floor. At least, he got Rivkin.

NCIS

As Morimoto was in MTAC with Gibbs and his team waiting on Vance, she got a call on her smartphone. Gibbs glared at her as she took it. He listened.

"Yeah, Morimoto," she snapped as she answered the smartphone.

Gibbs read her body language as she received some news. Whatever it was, it wasn't good news.

"Is he going to be all right?" she demanded.

Ziva held her breath. She knew that Morimoto was talking about Tony. It only made sense.

"He's dead. How?" she said then listened to a story. "I'll make arrangements. Appoint a crew to keep guard. I'll be there in hours."

She hung up just as Vance appeared on the screen. Vance looked at her and cleared her throat.

"What is wrong SAC Morimoto?" asked Vance.

"Assistant Director DiNozzo has been shot by Aaron Rivkin," she stated.

Ziva closed her eyes, as Gibbs worked his jaw, which was suddenly tense.

"Explain," said Vance.

"Rivkin shot Officer Tuvia and Agent Thornson then shot Assistant Director DiNozzo twice. It appears Director DiNozzo was able to throw a knife at Rivkin killing him. Tuvia, Thornson, and Director DiNozzo have been rushed to Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital," she explained.

"Son of a bitch," sighed Vance. "DiNozzo's wounds?"

"A thigh wounds and chest," she said.

"Prognosis of Thornson and Tuvia?" Vance asked.

"Chest wound for Thornson and Tuvia was shot in the upper back. I have no idea of what their conditions are," said Morimoto.

"Tell the Perth field office that I expect to be kept abreast of his condition," Vance said.

"I'll let them know," said Morimoto.

"Gibbs report," barked a now annoyed Vance.

"Carlton Hurst, aka Philip Moore, William Dunstan, Harold Quinn, Abel Ben Gideon, and Pieter Rasputin. We are still digging up his background and have asked MI-6, Mossad, and CIA for help getting everything we can on the man," said Gibbs.

"I'll do some pushing on my end," said Vance.

"He sells classified information to whoever will pay for it. McGee is tracing all his banks accounts. It appears that he has millions ferreted away," explained Gibbs.

"Why would he do this?" asked Vance.

"Don't know yet. I'll ask him once I have him in an interrogation," said Gibbs.

"I really don't care if you get him to interrogation," said Vance. "Just find him."

Vance gave the kill sign and he disappeared. Gibbs looked at Morimoto.

"How the hell did DiNozzo get shot?" growled Gibbs.

"I guess this Rivkin was good at what he did, Agent Gibbs," she snapped back.

"Thank God he's finally dead," Gibbs said.

"I agree with that much," she sighed.

He turned and looked at Ziva.

"Get Abby and get your asses to Perth and you take care of him. Do you understand me?" he said.

"Yes, Gibbs," Ziva said.

She started to walk out of MTAC when she heard Gibbs clear his throat. Ziva turned to look at him.

"And no fighting with Abby. Make up and that's an order," he said.

"Yes, Gibbs," she said.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"Abby, I was wrong," Ziva said.

They were seated in business class headed to Perth as ordered by Gibbs. Abby looked at Ziva. She had hopes that their seats weren't together but Gibbs arranged for their transportation.

"I'm listening," said Abby.

Ziva took a deep breath. She had never been good at apologies or explaining herself and this was one was going to be difficult regardless.

"I was wrong to hate Tony when I came back from Somalia. It was a mistake. I was hurt and confused and I lashed out. I was using him a crash test dummy," Ziva said.

"You mean punching bag," Abby corrected her.

"Same difference," said Ziva.

"Uh Huh," was Abby's simple reply.

"I know I need to apologize to Tony. He… I owe him a great deal," said Ziva. "He saved my life and I repaid him by treating him horribly."

"Why are you telling me this?" asked Abby.

"Because you were right and I was wrong. I was wrong about Tony and I need to do something about it," Ziva said.

"That doesn't change that last two years, Zeeeevah," Abby said. "We lost Tony. I lost Tony, my best friend in some ways. I could always depend on him when I needed someone. Gibbs will pick me up a club if I had too much to drink then take me to his house and force me to go to bed and then give me a lecture in the morning. Tony would pick me up, buy me breakfast, take me to his apartment, and let me cuddle with him. No sex, no hanky panky, just big brother, and sister stuff. I lost that because he lives in Singapore now and he lives there because of you and Gibbs. We will never get him back in DC and I want him back."

"I want him back, too, Abby," Ziva said. "I lost something, too, when he left. I just didn't realize what it was and how much I needed it. Or how much I needed him."

Abby turned in her seat and looked into Ziva's eyes.

"Why now?" she demanded. "And tell me the truth because I'll know if you are lying."

"Because I have feelings for him and I want him to be back with us and I know I made a mistake," she said as tears started to stick at the corner of her eyes. "And I think he needs us."

Abby noticed the tears and felt sorry for her, but that didn't bring Tony back to them. She wasn't going to go soft this time.

"Fix it then," Abby said.

"I don't know how," Ziva admitted.

"Figure it out," Abby said then settled back in her seat ending the conversation.

Ziva wondered if she could fix this. She knew if she could get Tony back to DC then she could make things up to him. He deserved her thanks and more. But first, she needed to apologize then she needed to figure out how to get him back to DC.

NCIS

"Thigh wound was a bleeder, but it missed the femoral artery, which would have been fatal. Someone up there must like you. Upper chest wound was the one that had me worried," Dr. Mathias told Tony, who was barely listening to him. "I thought I was going to lose you on that one, but you're a tough bird to kill."

"I receive the _Tough Bird to Kill_ trophy every year at work. It's a point of honor for me. That and the _I can't believe he is the boss_ award," said Tony with a grunt of pain.

"I'm impressed that you don't want too many painkillers, but the pain isn't going away anytime soon and you need to sleep, so why don't you give the switch a couple of presses. You have to be knackered and sleep is good for you," Dr. Mathias encouraged him.

"Only if you can assure me that I won't see any visitors for several hours, if not several days. I'm sick of people," Tony said.

"I guarantee it. If anymore of you NCIS people want to see you I'll tell them no for now. Okay?" said Mathias.

"Shit," Tony sighed. "How is Liat and Hank?"

"Liat is the Israeli girl with the foul mouth, right?" asked Mathias.

"Yup," he sighed.

"Cracked scapula. Painfully but not deadly. She seems to not like medical help, though, and has a colorful way of letting us know," he said. "She can't wait to be out of here and she has let me know."

"And Hank?" asked Tony.

"Hank had a flat jacket on unlike some daring young man without a lot of brains. He has a bruise on his chest and a bad mood. He is bitching to seeing you," said Mathias.

"Don't want to see anyone, maybe ever again. You know people have a way of hurting you and I'm tired of being hurt," Tony smiled. "Thanks, doc."

Tony took the switch in his hand and pressed the button twice releasing two dosages of painkiller.

"I'll let you be now. There is someone guarding the door, if that makes you feel important," Mathias said.

"No more important than two bullet wounds make me feel," Tony said.

"Something tells me that you have a dark sense of humor," said Mathias. "I like that."

"Wait until I start doing impersonations of dead actors later for you, you'll love it," Tony said with a yawn. "I do a mean Lon Chaney."

"Sleep tight," Mathias said with smile.

Dr. Mathias let Tony alone. The painkiller was starting to work. His body was starting to feel heavier and eyelids weight as if they were weighted down suddenly by small lead weights. Sleep was coming his way whether he wanted it or not.

NCIS

Abby and Ziva arrived at the hospital. After stopping at the nurses' station they headed for Tony's room. A NCIS Special Agent was standing guard with orders not to let anyone in, except medical personnel.

"Please, please, please, let us in. I have to make sure he is all right. Please, please," Abby pleaded.

"Sorry, ma'am, I have orders," he said.

Ziva went to walk past him and he grabbed his arm.

"Sorry, ma'am," he said.

The next thing he knew he was kissing the floor with Ziva twisting his right arm and her right boot on his back.

"Do not call me, ma'am," she said. "Abby, check on Tony."

Abby entered the hospital room to find Tony asleep. Quietly, she walked up to him and gently touched his cheek. He moaned and turned his face away. It was just then Dr. Mathias came in with Ziva in tow.

"I now see why he didn't want any visitors," he said.

"The guard was rude," said Ziva.

"Which is a reason to make him a rug?" said Mathias.

"How is he?" asked Abby.

"His body will heal in time. The rest is not up to me. I like Director DiNozzo, that is what little I know him, so I can say this without guilt: someone has burned and this someone must have been burned by a beautiful woman. Now there are two beautiful women in this room right now, so which one of you burned him?" he asked.

"That would be here," said Abby, as she pointed at Ziva.

Mathias looked at her.

"Definitely beautiful enough to break a heart," Dr. Mathias said.

"His body will be okay, though," said Abby.

"He was lucky. If the bullet in the chest was a half inch over he'd be dead or if the bullet in his thigh was a quarter of an inch down it would have nicked his femoral artery and he'd have bled out," said Mathias. "He's a lucky bastard."

"He could have died," said Ziva more to herself than anyone else.

"Yes, he could have died and now he is drugged up to his eyeballs and not wanting to see a soul. The man has issues," said Mathias.

"Can we stay with him until he waked up?" asked Abby.

"I promised him privacy. I don't believe you two fall under privacy," said Mathias.

"Please, he needs us more than he knows. I need to take care of him and to talk to him," pleaded Ziva.

"Stay and tell him not to blame me," Mathias said then he walked out.

Abby grabbed two chairs then she and Ziva sat by his bed. In silence, they watched him sleep until finally he started to wake. When he opened his eyes, he looked first at Ziva then at Abby and sighed.

"Am I dead?" asked Tony.

"No," said Ziva.

"Tony, you got yourself shot again," Abby said.

"I know. I'm trying to set a record or die young, one, or the other," he said.

"Don't talk that way, Tony," Abby scolded him.

"Just joking, Abby," he said.

"It's not funny," She said then stood up. "I need a Red Bull."

Abby marched out of the hospital room leaving Tony with Ziva.

"Well, this is uncomfortable," he said.

"I'm sorry," Ziva said softly.

"About what?" Tony asked.

"Driving you away from DC. It was my fault. I was hurt and needed someone to blame for all the pain I felt and I placed it on you," she said.

"Ziva, it was partially my fault," he said.

"None of it was you fault, Tony," she said.

"But…," Tony started to speak up but Ziva shut him down.

"Let me speak," Ziva said. "I think I blamed you because I wanted you to rescue me earlier, or sacrifice yourself for me, but you were willing to do that. I didn't see it or understand it then because I was too bust wanting some to blame and to hate. I chose you and Eli. I was right to choose Eli, but not you. You were my savior and…"

She stopped to wipe away a tear.

"I need to make things up with you, Tony," she said.

"Don't, Ziva, please don't cry and don't feel like you have to make anything up to me. No matter what you say it was me who killed Rivkin and me you goaded your father and me that Gibbs chose in Tel Aviv," Tony said.

"And then he chose me over you in DC," Ziva said. "That was wrong."

"Nay, it was right at the time. I'm now an assistant director and you are part of Gibbs' MCRT and they are the best," he said. "It's worked out fine."

"No, it didn't, Tony, because it took you away from your family," Ziva said then paused, "and me."

"It was best that I get away from you, Ziva," he said. "I would have only caused you pain when you should be concentrating on getting better. It seems like you are better."

"I am getting better. And I would have gotten better if you stayed," she said.

"No, Gibbs did what was right. I don't have to like him for it or like the way it was handled, but he did what was right. I have a new home in Singapore," Tony said.

"You won't come home?" she asked.

"Ziva, don't get me wrong, I love you. I'm crazy about you," he said. "But, I can't. I can't put my heart on the line like that again. I'm as strong as I used to be. I guess I've gotten older, maybe a little wiser, but definitely older."

"I had hope that we could have…," Ziva stopped.

They stared at each other. She had made the first move, but he wasn't willing to make the next. It was his move to make, but he wasn't willing to risk his heart. Ziva refused to cry. She knew that he had earned the right to refuse her.

"I want you to know, Tony, that I love you. I think I hated you because I loved you. I hated you because you weren't in my bed instead of Michael and because you played by Gibbs rules instead of taking a chance with me," She said. "I knew it was petty and wrong but I couldn't help myself then. I know better now."

"I wish was stronger, Ziva, but I'm not. I just want to live my life and try not to make any more major mistakes with it," he said.

"I understand," she stood up. "I should let you rest."

Ziva walked out of the room leaving Tony alone.

"Good work, DiNozzo. Stupid bastard," he sighed.

Ziva met Abby as she was head back to the room. Abby saw the tears being held in check by determination alone.

"Ziva, what's wrong?" Abby asked.

"He doesn't want me," she said then sobbed.

Abby gave her a big hug and let her cry on her shoulder.

NCIS

It took three weeks, but Gibbs team finally tracked Charlton Hurst down under the alias of Michael DuPont. Gibbs tracked the alias down through shell companies and some luck. He was scheduled to charter a plane out of Singapore. They were there waiting for him and Gibbs was glad to fire a kill shot into him when he resisted.

His personal effects showed that his older half-brother was a Captain in the US Navy and that he simply hated him. It wasn't a great reason to kill US sailors and marines but serial killers had their own reasons for what they did. Gibbs method of solving a serial killers spree was to solve the murders and let the damned serial killer deal with his own psychological problems.

With the killer dead, it was time to leave. It had been two weeks since Liat returned to Israel and Tony returned to light duty, mainly doing paperwork. Ziva had avoided Tony once he returned and now that things were over, Gibbs didn't it was time for him to clear the air. He entered Tony's office.

"Mind if I speak to you," Gibbs said.

"No," Tony said and motioned him to sit down.

Gibbs sat down.

There was uncomfortable silence between the two men for a moment then Tony spoke: "Congratulations on getting Hurst."

"Your suggestion broke the case," Gibbs said.

"Yeah, sure. You got him and that is all that counts," Tony said.

"I take it Vance is happy," Gibbs said.

"Rogue Israeli agent caught, I wasn't killed, and now serial killer DOA; he's happy," said Tony.

"Good," said Gibbs. "I want to part with you know that there is no agent I respect more or have been prouder to work with. It didn't end well with us and that was my fault. I still think of you as my agent."

"Thanks, Gibbs," Tony said then he paused as he processed what he heard. "I could have chosen my father instead of have genetics stick me with the father I have then I would have chosen you for my father."

Gibbs was taken back that Tony admitted this to him. He wanted to say something to show him how much it meant, but words weren't his forte.

"You know I trust you more than anyone else with my six, DiNozzo. You are part of my family and always will be," he said then stood up. "Well, I better get going. Vance has missed us in DC."

"I know. He's complained enough to me about it," smiled Tony.

As Gibbs made it to the door, Tony stood up and cleared his throat getting Gibbs attention. Gibbs turned and looked at him.

"Do me a favor and tell Ziva that I'd go Somalia and save her tomorrow if she needed me to," he smiled.

"Tell her yourself," said Gibbs.

"Can't, Gibbs. I'm here in Singapore. This is my home," Tony said.

"You have another," Gibbs said then left.

Tony sat down and immediately started wondering if he did the right thing.

Epilogue

Six months had passed. When Ziva got back to DC, she broke up with her boyfriend. She wasn't in the mood for a relationship and that mood was still upon her. When she got to work and opened e-mails today, there was announcement that Deputy Director Granger had left for a position at Homeland Security. Vance was supposed to choose a new one and make an announcement.

Stan and McGee got to work and it was then that Ziva noticed that Gibbs coat was there but he wasn't. She then noticed a smiling Gibbs come down the mezzanine stairs from Vance's office. When he got to his desk, she cleared her throat to get his attention.

"Yes, Agent David," he said.

"Do we have an assignment from the Director?" she asked.

"Nope," he answered.

"Oh," she said then went back to her e-mails.

As she buried herself in her e-mails, she heard Stan.

"I don't believe it," Stan exclaimed.

"Wow," said McGee.

Ziva looked up and saw Tony in a charcoal Brioni suit, crisp white shirt, and light grey tie, standing beside Vance. The Director was smiling. He cleared his throat.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Vance spoke up, "some of you might remember the man beside me from his days on Gibbs' MCRT. For the past two and half years, he has done an amazing job in Singapore mostly as assistant director. Well, now I want to introduce him as our new deputy director. Deputy Director Anthony DiNozzo."

There was applause from the agents on the floor. Tony looked over at Gibbs' bullpen. He managed to capture Ziva's eyes. She stared up at him and he stared down at her. After a moment, he smiled at her then winked. He stepped forward to speak.

"I never thought I'd be back in DC and I really never thought I'd be deputy director. Well, not for the first time, I was wrong. I have to say that I'm really excited to be working in DC again and working with you again. I especially look forward to working with," he said then looked at Ziva again, "some of you more than others."

Ziva smiled. Suddenly, she felt optimistic that she and Tony had a chance to move away from past mistakes and ahead with something different, something that made her smile to think of the possibilities.


End file.
